Just a little girl?
by Polaris Stella
Summary: When the Institute is attacked, Rogue is among the captured students. Stryker finds that she will fit perfectly into his X-23 program. 9 months later, she gives birth to a little girl, who not only has Logan's hair, but also his powers. Being parents is one thing, but how will the couple handle it, when Stryker takes their child and turns her into the weapon he intended
1. Chapter 1

Logan trudged impatiently back and forth and looked by turn at the watch and the closed door. A growl sounded deep from his throat, when the minute hand hadn't moved, in spite of the feeling that it had been hours since his last looked at it. Why did it take so long? Why didn't they tell him anything? They had been in there for hours now. Every time he walked past the door he could hear her gasping and half screaming in pain.

Suddenly a heart-rending scream went through the wood the door was made of.

"That's it! I'm going in there!" he said, reaching for the door handle.

"Logan," Professor X said. "Having you breaking in there will only make everything worse for her."

Logan clenched his fist. "This makes me crazy! How long can it take?"

"You could almost believe, that you have never tried this before," Scott grinned. You would rarely see the Wolverine this edgy, and it was actually fun to watch the big guy pacing around in circles like that.

`Snict´ "And what makes you think I have, Cyc?" Logan growled.

Another scream sounded behind the door. Logan had to grit his teeth and endure, to not break the door down and… and what? What could he possibly do to help her? He hated the idea of being useless!

"Come on, Wolvie, she couldn't possibly be in better hands," Jubilee said. "Beast knows what he is doing and with Storm in there, it just can't go wrong."

"Jubilee is right, Logan. I suggest that you go out and get some air," the Professor said.

"But what if…?"

"I will let you know as soon as anything new happens. Now go."

Much against his will and instincts he walked down the hall and outside. The need to help her was beating in his heart, and the fact, that he could not it, only made it worse.

It was his fault that she was going through this painful hell, right now. He would give anything, anything at all, to be the one going through the hours of agony instead of her.

Logan ran his hands through his hair and crouched down beside the lake. He had to think of something else. Just something... But his stupid brain kept bringing him back to reason, behind her pain.

He remembered the day he had decided to go back to the mansion when he had realized that visiting the island wouldn't help him get his memory, back - or at least some of it - and hoped that the Professor could help him as he had promised more than three years ago.

o*o*o*

When Logan returned to the mansion, he was greeted by both happy and not so happy faces. It didn't take him long to find the Professor, who was in the Cerebro searching for the mutant who had attacked the president, not that long ago.

The Professor explained that he couldn't help him. At least not now for some reason, but he was more than welcome to stay at the mansion, which Logan agreed to. He knew that there wouldn't come anything good from trying to push the old man, even though it really pissed him off. Besides, the Professor found the location of the mutant and left Cerebro to send Storm and Jean after him.

Logan was on his way to the room he had had last time he was here when he met Storm. "Oh, there you are Logan. I had hoped to get a chance to talk to you before Jean and I left."

"Really? Why?"

"You see, I'm a little worried about Rogue," she explained.

Now Logan thought about it, he had actually expected her to be the first to welcome him back, but he hadn't seen her yet.

"She is dating Bobby Drake now, but I'm not sure that it is, that good between them; I have seen her cry plenty of times, despite she is trying to hide it," Storm said.

That immediately set off an alarm in Logan's guts. Just the thought of somebody hurting Marie, made he want to chase down the sucker and make him cry.

"I had hoped that you maybe could talk to her?" Storm said, snapping him out of his little fantasy.

"Me? Now I don't know if you have noticed it but I'm not really the type who does girl-talking."

"I know that, Logan," Storm sighed. "But you two have a special bond together. I was thinking that she would open more up to you."

"Well I can't promise anything, but I'll try."

That seemed to be enough for the weather-witch as left his room with a nod.

As he unpacked, he couldn't help thinking about her. He remembered the scared little girl, who he had met at the bar. Sometimes he thought about what would have happened to her if he had just left her on the road? That would have meant that he would never have fought against Sabertooth or had come to the school, and they would never have gotten `their special bond´ as Storm had mentioned.

He decided to pay his little girlfriend a visit. He soon found her sweet scent, which led him to the same room she had got, when they arrived here.

When the door opened, he was surprised to see how much she had changed. She was no longer the little lonely girl he had picked up on the street. She had grown into a young woman. Had he really been gone for so long that she could have managed to evolve that much? She had got shapes and her hair was styled in a ponytail with the two white stripes free.

Her eyes instantly lit up, when she saw him. "Logan! You're back," she smiled and hugged him, making sure that there was no skin contact.

"Missed me, kid?" he chuckled, hugging her back.

"Nah not really."

She invited him inside, and they sat down to talk. "It's so good to see you," she said. "How have you been?"

"I've been okay," he answered. "How about you, how are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she said quickly.

"No, you're not." He had been able to see it the second he saw her and he could smell the dried out tears: she had been crying. "Is this because of this Drake-boy?"

Rogue didn't answer but tried to avoid eye contact.

"What did he do?" Logan asked, suppressing a growl.

"He didn't do anything!" she answered. "But… after we began to date, I have started training to get control of my powers. When I concentrate hard enough, I can actually touch people without hurting them! But not for too long… It depends on how I'm feeling at the time… The more I practice, the better I get, but it's too slow. At least according to Bobby."

"Did he say that?"

"No, not to my face, but I know that he is thinking it. I'm afraid to touch him," she said quietly. "Last week I was holding his hand without a glove... At the first it was fine, but then we started arguing and suddenly he was hyperventilating. If I hadn't let go in time… I kept my gloves on after that. He wanted to try again today. I tried my best, but the same thing happened…"

Logan felt his anger awake again. Most of all he wanted to let the Drake-boy taste the adamantium claws, but he knew that it would just hurt Rogue even more. He wanted to tell her to dump him right away, but he also knew that Bobby pretty much had been the only one, who wasn't scared of her after what happened the first night they were here. "That wasn't your fault, kid," he said instead. "You were nervous, of course, you couldn't control it." He knew that he probably wasn't the first person to tell her that, but for some reason, it still seemed to wash away, at least some of the guilt painted in her face.

"You really think so?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah. If you just relax, I'm sure you can do it." She did not seem to be convinced, so he reached his hand towards her. "Here. Try."

"No. I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. Just relax and concentrate."

Rogue hesitated, but then she pulled off her glove, breathed deeply a couple of times, and looked him in the eyes before carefully touching his palm with her index finger. Nothing happened and when she realized that, she smiled and let him grab her hand.

"Told you so, kid." He grinned. They both laughed as they held each other's hands. For the first time, they were able to touch, without Logan getting hurt. It was… nice. he slowly moved his thumb across the back of her hand. He caressed it, like he had wanted to do to her cheek, the day he left her here.

"Rogue?" a voice said from the door, which had been opened without they had noticed.

"Bobby!" she gasped.

"Dammit!" Logan gasped as he suddenly felt all of his powers leaving him through his hand.

Rogue quickly let go and he fell down from the chair. "Oh my God, Logan I'm so sorry!" she said as she helped him back on his feet.

"It's okay. I'm fine," He said despite being pretty fuzzy. Rogue helped him back onto his feet.

Logan looked at Bobby, who looked back at him. The boy obviously tried to look intimidating, but even with the dizziness clouding his vision, Logan could still see right through the facade. "Well, I suppose I should leave you two alone," he mumbled. He turned to Marie. "I'll see you later, kid."

On his way back to his room, he couldn't help thinking that it was weird: the last times he touched her, it had knocked him out cold.

o*o*o*

"I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday," Marie said when he met her in the halls the following day.

"Don't be. I'm fine." He looked into her eyes and recognized the sadness behind the smile. "Did you and Bobby have another fight?"

"No."

"You can't lie to me, kid." Rogue sighed and told him that Bobby had gotten mad, because she had been holding Logan's hand yesterday, and kept accusing her of losing control on purpose.

"Want me to talk to him?"

"No, it's okay. All couples have their problems, right?" she said. She sounded so full of hope.

"Yes but…" Before he managed to say anymore, Cyclops showed up much to Logan's annoyance. That guy had a habit of showing up the wrong times.

"Hey Rogue, the training starts in ten minutes."

"Training?" Logan asked.

"Yeah. I'm training to become an X-man. Do you wanna join us?"

He didn't really have anything important to do so he said yes. He was surprised to see how good she had become at defending herself compared to the time he had saved her from Magneto.

The next couple of days he and Rogue spend a lot of time together. He would help her with the training and control her powers, and when he was in a bad mood, she could somehow always cheer him up again. He also taught her how to ride a motorcycle, realizing that the girl had a taste for speed.

Some nights, she would even come to his room, and they would watch a movie, of her choice. Mostly she would choose a movie, she believed would fall in Logan's taste, about action and speed, but sometimes she would also show movies from her childhood, which he found surprisingly amusing.

o*o*o*

Logan was on his way to the stairs in the morning when he noticed Rogue's smell and someone else he was pretty sure was Kitty Pryde.

Something in his guts told him to stop when he heard Kitty asking: "Hey, Rogue, got a minute?"

"Well yeah," she answered. "It's about Bobby. I think he has felt a little neglected lately."

"Neglected? What are you talking about?"

"Ever since Logan came back, you have been hanging more out with him, than with your actual boyfriend."

Logan walked closer, to where he was able to see them over the banisters.

"What? What makes you say that?" Rogue asked.

"Bobby. He told me, and asked me to talk to you."

"Why would he come to you?" Rogue asked and crossed her arms. She knew that Bobby and Kitty always had been good friends, but it still didn't seem like something he should be discussing with her.

"Well, I don't know, Rogue, maybe because you are way too busy hanging out with Logan instead of thinking of how your boyfriend feels!"

"But…" It was clear that Rogue hadn't been prepared for this.

How much longer was she going to put up with that ice-cubes tricks?

"I really can't see what should wrong with being friends with Logan?" Rogue finally said.

"Rogue…" Kitty sighed. "The only reason he is spending time with you is that Storm asked him to."

"What…?" Her voice was so low, that it was almost a whisper, but that was quickly changed: "That's not true!"

"Yes, it is. I overheard their conversation. Well, my point is that if you don't want to give Bobby the attention he deserves, then there are plenty of other girls, who would love…" Before Kitty managed to say anymore, he could hear Rogues footsteps running on the stairs.

"Logan…" she gasped stopping in front of him. "Did you hear…?"

"Yeah…" he admitted.

"So is it true? Did Storm really ask you to keep an eye on me?"

He knew he shouldn't lie to her. "Yeah, she did. She was worried about you, but…"

"I see. Thanks for the concern!" she snapped and ran past him up the stairs.

"Dammit, Rogue, wait!" he tried, but she was already gone.

Dammit! Why did Kitty absolutely have to tell her that? Yes, Storm had asked him to talk to her, but so what? It didn't mean, that he didn't consider her as his friend…

Later that day, he heard that Bobby had been hospitalized after Rogue had lost control. Logan wanted to talk to her, but she was probably with Bobby and he should leave them alone.

But later he walked past her door he could hear her crying.

"Rogue?" he asked as he knocked. She didn't answer but he still grabbed the doorknob, which was cold as ice. He had to push hard to get the door open and quickly grabbed onto the doorframe when he almost sled on the floor, which was covered in ice.

Rogue was standing by the bed, packing her suitcase.

"Where are you going, kid?" he asked when he had managed to gain his foothold.

"Why? Did Storm tell you to ask me?"

"No… knock that off, would you?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she closed her suitcase.

"Are you gonna tell me where you are going?" he asked again.

She stopped in front of her closet, where only her green jacket was left. "Stop. Just stop. Stop pretending that you care about me."

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Why was she acting this way? "You know that I care…"

She turned around and gave him a dead-glare. "Oh really? You left me here for three years, Logan. Three whole years, where I didn't hear a damn thing from you. Then you finally show up and the only reason you are spending time with me is because someone asked you to do it." While she was talking, the ground under her feet was frozen, ice spreading across the floor making the room even colder. "In the time you were gone, I kept telling myself, that you would come back, as you promised. You wouldn't just abandon me. And then, when you finally show up… I thought you were different Logan." Her eyes were getting wet. "But you are just like every other guy; a stupid, selfish, pig…"

He held a straight face, but her words hurt him more than he thought they would do.

She finally started crying for real, covering her face with her hands.

Logan wasn't sure if he was supposed to leave, but then he remembered the day she had tried to run away from the mansion after they almost killed each other, and he walked over and put his arms around her in a hug.

"I'm sorry," she cried against his shoulder. "I'm.. I'm so sorry Logan… I..I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay," he promised. "It's okay."

He let her cry all she needed and when she finally was done, the temperature in the room had risen at least five degrees.

"Now will you tell me what's going on?"

She sighed. "Bobby has been pushing me. A lot actually, more than I have let you know. Today, he wouldn't wait any longer, and suddenly… He said that he wanted me to prove that I really loved him... and then he kissed me. I tried, but couldn't control it and… now he is in a coma." She remembered the feeling of Bobby tightening his grip on her arms, while his powers and memories floated into her. He was out cold when she managed to push him away.

Logan didn't say anything. Even though he knew that this must bring back a lot of awful memories, something told him that it wasn't what made her this upset.

Rogue took a deep breath. "I got his memories and I saw… oh god how could I be so stupid… I knew they were friends… I thought that was all… but… I saw them together last night." She clutched her head, trying to suppress the memory, which kept replaying in her head.

Logan was going to melt that snowman! But right now he had to take care of his girl. "If he is that stupid he doesn't deserve you."

"Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Look at me. Marie, look at me." It was the first time he called her by her original name, but it worked and her eyes met his again. "Marie, he is the stupid one. You however are a great, intelligent, sweet, caring girl, and if Bobby can't see that, then it's his loss."

Red spread across her cheeks, but she tried to ignore it. "Do you really mean that, or are you just saying it to make me feel better?"

"I mean it, Marie. Besides: you deserve much better than him."

"Thank you." She leaned towards him and hugged him.

It felt good that he could finally be there for her and make her happy…

Suddenly it knocked on the door, and Storm came in before they managed to let go of each other.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, without seeming that surprised. "I just wanted to make sure, that you were okay, Rogue. But it seems like you are in good hands." She closed the door again with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey there!  
I understand that Bobbys choices are a bit confusing, but in this AU he and Kitty are very good friends, who can talk about almost everything! That't why he talked to her about being upset with Rogue and her friendship with Logan. Kitty is in love with Bobby and kissed him the night he talked to her, and they ended up sleeping together. They agreed on not telling Rogue but Kitty wants to be with Bobby and talked to Rogue about what Bobby had told her.  
Rogue confronted Bobby, being very upset. They talked about it and Bobby said that he didn't like that she only was abel to control it, when it was Logan she touched.  
"It has nothing to do with if it's Logan or someone else," Rogue argued.  
"Then prove it!" Bobby said. He grabbed her arms and pressed his lips agains hers, but she hadn't been prepared, and ended up absorbing his powers and memories.

* * *

The Professor soon found a new clue to where the unknown mutant was hiding and sent Storm and Jean after him once again, while Scott and himself paid a visit to an old friend.

Bobby woke up the same day and seemed to be strong enough to leave the schools hospital department. When Logan heard, he instantly went to Marie's room.

She was sitting on her bed, legs pulled up to her chin as she stared out the window. She was wearing a black jersey, and brown gloves covering as much skin as possible. even her hair was let down.

"Hey," Logan mumbled and sat down on the bed. "You okay."

Rogue shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, Bobby's okay, so I suppose that I should be happy about that, but..."

"But you really wanna kick him in the nods and rip out his eyes?"

"Yeah. Something like that," she mumbled and gave him a small smile.

"And he would deserve it, you know. And so would what's-her-name-again, Cat? Kit?"

"Kitty."

"Right, well she'll still deserve it. And it would be a good time to do it too, now that the Professor and the others aren't here," Logan said, winking at her.

"Yeah…" Rogue mumbled, looking out of the window again. "I.. I just really don't feel like seeing Kitty right now. Or Bobby."

Logan laid a hand on her shoulder. "Well you don't have to, if you don't want to."

"No, I want to," she protested. "I want to tell Kitty that she is nothing but a… a slutty bitch. And I want to tell Bobby how much of a jerk he is - that I want him to stay the hell away from me, or… or I'll suck him dry!" She looked at her hands as she spoke, clenching them. She moved her eyes back to him, and Logan recognized the fire burning in them. The flame however soon died out. "But just… not right now. I can't face them right now. Not when I still see them, in my head."

"Hey, it's okay," Logan said. "You'll do it, when you feel like it. And trust me: no one's gonna say anything, when you do it. If anything, they'll probably be cheering, when you put the bastard straight."

Rogue couldn't help giggling and shaking her head, even though she really liked the thought. She took a deep breath. "God, Logan. What did I ever see in him?" she mumbled.

"Well, he can freeze things, so he probably seemed cool," Logan answered with a small chuckle. Rogue smiled a bit, but then just looked down at her feet. "No seriously - Marie, from the moment you got your powers, everyone you knew and loved, turned against you. You had to survive alone for eight months. No wonder you would fall for the first guy who showed you kindness instead of fear."

"Yeah but… Bobby wasn't the first person who showed me kindness. You were."

Logan didn't know what to say to that. It did however give him an idea. He stood up and reached his hand towards her. "What do you say we get out of here, and find somewhere more fun, huh?"

Rogue looked at his hand, before she smiled and took it.

"Wait," Logan mumbled, stopping in front of her. He lifted the hand he was holding, moving his hand to her wrist. Carefully he grabbed the tip of the glove on her middle finger. Slowly he pulled the brown fabric off from her hand, exposing her pale skin.

"Logan…" Rogue began as he put the glove on the nightstand. He looked her into the eyes, before he turned his attention to her other hand, taking off that glove as well.

"Logan, I…" she tried.

"Shh. It's okay, Marie," Logan promised.

He sounded so convincing. She didn't protest further, but her heart was beating fast, as Logan slowly touched her palm with his index finger. Nothing happened, and Marie breathed deeply and smiled. Logan wrapped his fingers around her naked hand, as he smiled back. "Let's go."

"So, where are we going?" Rogue asked on the way down to the garage.

"That's a surprise," he answered as he found the key to the motorcycle. As soon as she was sitting behind him with her arms thigh around his torso, they drove off.

"A bar. Just like the one where we met," Rogue said, getting off the bike.

"Yeah, I thought it could be kinda fun," Logan mumbled. He had thought it might be a good idea, to bring back some other memories, than Bobby's. He wasn't so sure now that they were here, given that it had ended with him getting kicked out, but the smile on Marie's mouth, assured him that he had done the right thing.

"Yeah! As long as you won't be cage-fighting again."

"Nah, I think I'm gonna skip that part."

"Good," she grinned. It was nice to see her smiling again.

There weren't that many people in there and they easily found a table in the corner.

"It's really nice of you to do this, Logan," she said after they had ordered a beer and a coke.

"My pleasure, darling," he answered.

She hesitated a bit, but then she asked. "What made you come here back then?"

"Cage fighting is a good and easy way to earn money when you're on the road. And the place's got booze."

"Right. Booze. Definitely, something that should be on your list of top priorities," she joked, although she knew, that there was much more to it. Logan had been traveling the last 18 years, searching blindly to find out who he really was, or used to be. Rogue couldn't help but feeling bad for him. He must have felt so lonely…

"What's wrong?" Logan asked.

She hesitated. "Did you ever find anything? I mean, in your time on the road, did you get any closer to who you used to be?"

"No." He decided that it would be best, to be honest, mostly because she probably wouldn't like lies, but also because a very small part of him needed to talk to someone, but of course, he would barely admit that to himself.

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that." She knew how much it meant to him and she had no trouble understanding why.

"Don't be. I'll properly find it someday." Or maybe never.

"I hope so."

"Thanks, kid."

"Oh, please, Logan. Don't call me that. I'm turning 20 the day after tomorrow."

Seriously? Had she really grown that much? The day after tomorrow… That wasn't much time to find a gift… and what should he get for her? A new pair of gloves didn't really seem fitting at the time… maybe a necklace?

"I'm gonna call you kid until you are able to drink beer."

She crossed her arms and gave him a somewhat offended glare. "I can drink beer."

"Then go ahead." He pushed his half-filled glass across the table and smirked. "Kid."

She hesitated but then took the glass and drank all the content, and then coughed several times. Logan couldn't help laughing as she took a big sip of her cola to wash away the taste. "You want more?"

"No. I think I'm gonna stick to the coke." She hesitated a little, while he ordered another beer, but then she said: "You know… if you ever need to talk about it then…"

"Thanks, darling, but I'm good," he answered. He knew she meant well, but he didn't want to bother her with his problems, besides she probably wouldn't understand it. No one seemed to do so, maybe except the Professor.

"I'm serious, Logan, I mean, I know you're not much for talking about that stuff, but with all you have been through, I really think, that it would be good for you. All those freaky nightmares alone…"

"Hold on," he said putting his beer down. "What do you mean 'nightmares'?"

"Well… the Professor has been helping me put the personalities I've absorbed in 'boxes' so they won't bother me… but it is like you… your memories and that stuff, won't stay in the box, so…"

"So you are having my nightmares?" How could he not have figured this out? And if she had his nightmares, what other crazy things had she gotten from him? "How long has it been like that?"

"I guess it started the night after you left or something."

Logan had to fight the urge to pull her close, wanting to protect her from everything around them "I'm sorry." He never wanted anyone to live his hell, and especially not Marie. His Marie.

"It's okay," she mumbled. "Although it was pretty creepy suddenly to be fighting in a war with Sabertooth."

"What? Sabertooth? No that can't have been mine," he answered, even though he didn't want to talk about it. The nightmares bothered him enough in the nights.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. That time in the truck was the first time I've ever seen him. I have no more memories of him than you do." His nightmares had probably become mixed up with her own.

For a moment she seemed confused. "But he seemed so different in my dreams: his hair is short and his eyes are human. And it seemed like he was fighting with you and not against you."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"No… but on the other hand, it is just dreams, right? Most of the time it becomes even crazier in a nightmare."

"Yeah," he mumbled. He excused himself and went to the toilet. A shorthaired Sabertooth… he could actually picture it. But did that mean…? No, it was impossible.

He was about to go back, when he heard yelling, a couple of screams and other noises there among glass breaking. Rogue!

He ran through the door and the bar.

"No stay away from me!" he heard her scream long before he got to her.

"What have you done to him?!" someone yelled.

"She's a mutant!"

"Get out of here, you fucking freak!"

"Marie!" Logan pushed himself through the bunch of people who had surrounded her.

He was shocked by the sight that met him: one man was lying unconscious on the floor, another was leaning against their table, holding a hand over his shoulder, with blood running through the fingers and Rogue was standing with fear in the eyes and six boned claws between her fingers. Just like his.

"I said: get out of here, you little freak!" A man reached out to her and she jumped back. "No don't touch me!"

"Get out or I'm gonna kill you!" another man yelled and pulled out a knife.

Logan quickly stepped between them and pulled out his own claws. "Hey! You stay away from her, bub!"

"Another mutant!" someone yelled, but Logan didn't care to see whom.

"Get out of here!"

Most of all, Logan wanted to fight the man, with the knife in front of him, but he knew he had to get Rogue out of here now.

"Then move!" he yelled back.

The big group of people moved just enough to give them space enough to get to the door.

Logan turned to Rogue who was shaking and breathing heavily. He wanted to say: "Come on let's get out of here," but he realized that she was way too shocked and scared. "Marie," he said softly. "Come on, it's okay, darling. It's okay." He retracted his claws and laid his hands on her shoulders to lead her out of here, while he tried to ignore the mad people around them. If she hadn't been there, they wouldn't have been there for long.

Rogue was shaking, hyperventilating and pale when they reached the motorcycle.

"Marie," he tried softly. "Marie, it's okay…"

"No! It's not okay!" she cried.

"Marie…"

"I didn't want to do it!"

"I know you didn't but…"

"I swear I didn't mean to!"

"Marie, look at me!" She finally stopped crying and looked at him.

"It's okay. It's going to be alright, just take a deep breath."

o*o*o*

"What the hell happened back there?" Logan asked when he was sure she was calm enough.

"Not long after you had left, two men came over to the table. I tried to tell to leave me alone, but they wouldn't… One of them tried to touch me, and I couldn't control it… The other guy got furious, started to scream "mutant" and attacked me… I..I just wanted to punch him… as self-defense… I hit him on the shoulder… and suddenly I had these." She held up her still shaking hands with the bone claws. "I don't know where they came from…"

Logan looked at the claws. Could it really be? "I think they are mine."

"What?" she whispered and looked into his dark eyes. "Yours?"

"Yeah. You must have gotten them last time you touched me."

"But… but…" Her head was filled with questions, but she chose the most important one, right now: "How do I get rid of them?"

"First, you have to calm down," he answered and remembered the first time he had discovered them more than 15 years ago. He wondered if his reaction had been the same the very first time he had done it? "Now concentrate."

She did as he said and after 5 minutes with deep breathing and focusing, the claws slowly slid back into her hands.

He saw the pain in her eyes, which she tried to hide, and wanted to take her hand in his and rub it gently where he knew it hurt the most. He hated that she had to go through the same pain as him.

She pulled her hand back before he got a chance to touch her but then she let him do it. Nothing happened.

"Come on, let's go home, darling," he said.

It was pretty late when they got back. Almost everybody was sleeping by now and they walked as quiet as possible when Logan followed her back to her room.

"I still don't understand this," Rogue said quietly. "I usually don't keep people's powers this long."

"We should probably talk to the Professor about it when he comes back," Logan said. "But I think that Magneto's machine did more than change your hair."

"What?"

He considered whether he should say this or not. It hadn't been a very pleasant experience for her. And neither for him, when he felt the pain of her limp body in his arms and he believed that he hadn't been able to save her. "When I touched you, after pulling you out of the machine, nothing happened. At least not what I could feel. Then, slowly it started to work, and it became stronger by the second. Last time I touched you, it didn't feel half as bad as the first times."

"Really?" she whispered, looking down at her hands. "So I can control it because Magneto almost killed me?"

It didn't sound good at all when she said it that way.

"I'm not sure. You should talk to the Professor about it."

"Yeah. I will do that," she whispered before she went inside her room. "Thank you, Logan. I'll see you tomorrow."

o*o*o*

It was around midnight when Logan woke up. Awoken by another nightmare. This time he was almost sure that he had seen Sabertooth… it couldn't be. It could not be a memory.

He wasn't tired enough to go back to sleep and decided to get something to drink instead. After walking around in the halls for a bit he made his way to the kitchen, where the ice prick was eating ice – what a surprise.

"Well, look who is back on his feet," Logan mumbled while he sniffed his way to something that wasn't chocolate milk.

"Yeah," the ice prick mumbled. "I thought she had gotten better at controlling it."

"Oh, she has gotten better", Logan thought. "Much better than you deserve".

"But I guess we'll just have to do some more practicing," He continued.

"Do some more practicing?" Logan repeated.

"Yeah, I mean, we have to, if we are ever going to be like an ordinary couple, right?"

Logan couldn't believe this. Well if the boy wasn't smart enough to figure it out, Logan would be happy to bring him the news: "You won't need to `do some more practicing´, bub."

"What do you mean?" Bobby asked confused.

"She is breaking up with you." She had told him earlier, how she was going to give him a smack in the face, and then dump him, and normally he would have let her get that pleasure, but right now, he was so angry that he couldn't hold it back!

"What? Why?!"

"Don't you know, that Rogue's power doesn't only take other people's powers when she touches them? She gets their memories too."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, `oh´. You are lucky I haven't stabbed my claws through your throat!"

"I didn't do it to hurt her!" Bobby said quickly. It was obvious that he was scared now. What a sissy. "It's just… It's not easy when you want to be close to someone and you can't… "

"So you thought that you would try being with a girl you could actually touch, instead of waiting?" God, he started to sound like a saint.

"No! Yeah… but… I really do care about Rogue and I want to be with her. But sometimes you just have to… You should understand that. I have seen the way you look at miss Grey."

"Excuse me?" This kid was really getting on his nerves. Yes, he was looking at Jean, but how could he not with that body of hers?

Suddenly the sound of military boots reached his ears…


	3. Chapter 3

Everything was chaos! After everybody was awoken by Theresa's scream, students were now running around, screaming, some trying to escape, others trying to fight the soldiers, who were attacking them, but it was no use. As soon as they were close enough to attack, they were shot by some kind of anaesthesia.

Rogue helped two girls into one of the escape passages.

"Aren't you coming?" they asked.

"No, I have to go find someone first," she said and gave them very accurate instructions on what they had to do. They still looked scared, but they would have to be brave.

"Now go!" Rogue closed the door behind them. She concentrated and made the bone claws come out. She had to find him. She knew that he probably was running around killing the soldiers, and even though it was them who were the attackers, it would only make everything worse for the mutant kind, if they killed the soldiers, instead of just getting away.

Besides, Logan might be strong, but there was no guarantee, that he wouldn't get caught, probably killed and there was no way that she was going to let that happen!

She tried to use her enhanced senses, but there were too many people and panic around, for her to focus and find the one she was searching for.

Since she couldn't use her ears or nose, she would have to use her eyes and simply look until she found him.

She ran down the hall and past a lot of dead soldiers, that told her, that Logan already had been here. She had to find him!

Rogue soon realized, that Logan's powers weren't totally useless to her when she could hear the soldiers around the next corner and hide, until they were gone.

But she couldn't keep avoiding them forever and suddenly three needles hit her in the shoulder! They made her dizzy, but they didn't knock her out.

However, they did make her lose focus, long enough for the soldiers to surround her. She couldn't touch them skin-to-skin, but she still managed to take down some of them, using her claws, until she was shot with at least fifteen of the sedative needles.

Rogue's vision was blurred, but she kept fighting to stay alert. She could see a very large man walking towards her.

"I know this kind of mutation," he said. "And there is only one way to take care of it."

Rogue heard the sound of a gun getting loaded and felt cold metal, getting pressed against her forehead.

o*o*o*

Wolverine didn't care to count how many soldiers he had killed. All he cared about was taking down the rest.

Colossus was leading many of the kids away from the mansion, right now, but some were still here. Here among Rogue. If any of the soldiers touched her...

He had just gutted down another one, when he heard the gunshot. Shit! They wouldn't just do with stunning the kids. They would kill them if it was necessary! He immediately ran towards where he had heard the sound. It wasn't long before he recognized the smell of blood. The smell! Even though it happened more than three years ago, he still remembered the smell of her blood! No! NO! Not her! Not his Marie!

Wolverine soon found the large puddle of blood, but no Marie. They had taken her.

"Be careful not to touch this one, it did a number on Tim!" he heard someone further around the corner, say. Her skin could still absorb... which meant that she was still alive! But the guys who had taken her, wouldn't be for long!

Wolverine ran around the corner. The adamantium claws, which already were covered in blood, were more than ready to stab, whoever had dared to get near her.

The soldiers turned around at the sound of his footsteps and pointed their guns towards him, while the one, carrying his Marie, ran away.

"You wanna, shoot me? Shoot me!"Wolverine yelled.

"Don't shoot him!" a voice sounded.

Logan found himself freezing. That voice... He knew that voice. But where from? Somehow he knew that he hadn't just met the guy once in a bar or something like that.

A large man came around the corner, walking past the soldiers. "Not yet."

The man walked closer, close enough for Logan to smell him. That smell! From where did he know it?

"Wolverine? This is certainly the last place I'd expect to find you," the man said, as he walked closer. "How long has it been? Fifteen years? You haven't changed a bit. Me on the other hand. Nature." The man was now close enough for Logan, to see his face out of the shadows.

Fifteen years? They had known each other from before, Logan lost his memory... Somehow he knew, that they hadn't been friends, but he still found himself, pulling back his claws.

"I didn't realize Xavier was taking in animals. Even animals as unique as you," the man continued.

Animal. He'd been called that before, when he'd been fighting in bars, and it had always, for some reason, made him pissed. But this man saying the word. It felt familiar... And he had a feeling that something important was behind that word. Something deep.

"Who are you?" Logan growled.

"Don't you remember?" the man smiled ferociously. It almost sounded like he was teasing.

"Why are you here? What do you want with them?!"

"Them? Do you really care about all of them, Wolverine? Or are you just referring to the girl?" the man asked. "I mean you must care a lot about her, since you would give her, the only clue to your past!"

He threw something at him, which Logan caught in the left hand by reflects. His dog tags... Logan looked from the pieces of metal in his hand, to the man, who smiled at him.

From the corner of his eyes, Logan saw something starting to move, as a cool sensation spread in front of him. He looked up, and saw the wall of ice, scatter itself in front of him, separating him from the other man!

"No! No!" Logan yelled, as the ice got thicker.

He turned around and saw the ice prick holding his hand on the wall, where the ice started. Behind him, stood the guy who called himself Pyro, and the girl, Kitty Pryde, who was holding Bobby's hand.

"Now we are even," he said. Even?! That idiot! Logan knew, it was a mistake to save that little whiner! He looked back at the ice wall, where it seemed like, the other man, was leaving, after sticking something in the ice, that was beeping. A bomb!

"Do you want to get out of here, or what?!" he heard the ice prick yell.

He wanted to stay. This man knew about his past... But Logan knew, that if he didn't get out of there now, there was no way, that he would be able to save Marie, who now was long gone, with the other kidnapped mutants.

"Go! Keep going," he growled.

Kitty led them down to the cars, where Logan didn't mind using his claws to get Cyclops car started and drove, as fast as possible to Boston.

Logan looked at his dog tags. He knew that man. He had known him before he lost his memory... Stryker. His name was William Stryker!

But who was he?

Logan tried, but he couldn't remember. All he knew was, that Stryker knew what had happened to him. And more important: He had his Marie. _"Don't worry Marie",_ Logan thought. _"I'll find you!"_

o*o*o*

Maybe it was because she was cold, despite that she was lying under a blanket, maybe it was because she was lying on something hard, instead of a mattress or maybe it was because she could sense the presence of the other people.

No matter what, Rogue knew immediately that she wasn't in her room in the mansion, when she started to wake up.

"Hey, I think she is waking up," someone said.

"Her head has stopped bleeding," someone else said.

"Hey? Hey, can you hear me?" a third voice said. A girl. "Are you there, chica? Give me a sign or something."

"Where... are we?" Rogue asked quietly. Her vision was getting better and she could see six other kids staring at her.

"Beats me. I just woke up here. We all did," a girl with dark hair said. The other kids nodded. It looked like they were some kind of casing, with a grate on the top.

Rogue sat up.

"Easy, chica. You don't want to make too sudden moves."

"I'm fine," Rogue said.

"Are you sure? You have been bleeding a lot. It seemed like you got shot in your head," a little boy said.

"Don't worry, the wound is healed now. It doesn't even hurt," she assured him.

"That's your mutation?" the boy asked.

"No. My mutation is absorbing other people's powers," Rogue said. "I got the healing-power from a friend."

"Aww yeah, I know you! You're the girl, who came to the mansion, with the Wolverine, and nearly killed him the first night, after he stabbed you! Your name is Rogue! Hi, I'm Jubilee!"

"Right," Rogue mumbled. Despite that she had lived in the mansion about three years by now, she didn't know the name of half of her fellow students, since most of them had been terrified of her and her deadly skin, and she had stuck with Bobby and John. "Hi."

"What do you think the bad men want with us?" a girl cried. "We didn't do anything wrong, why did they take us?!"

"Easy now," Rogue said. "I'm sure that the others are on their way to find us."

"Yeah," Jubilee said. "Storm, Jean, Scott. They are probably on their way right now and will be here before we know it."

 _"And Logan,"_ Rogue thought. She grabbed her wrist, only to realize that Logan's dog tags were gone! Every time she had felt upset, she had grabbed them and it always made her feel more comfortable.

She looked around, hoping that they had fallen off when the soldiers had placed her here, but they were nowhere to be found. She couldn't believe that she had lost Logan's dog tags... He had asked her to hold on to them. She knew they meant a lot to him, but he had still given them to her.

Suddenly a door in the wall, she hadn't noticed before opened. All the kids got on their feet and rushed to the other side of the casing, behind Rogue and Jubilee.

"What do you want?!" Rogue snarled, when the soldiers came in, with their weapons pointing towards them.

"You just follow us, little lady," one of the soldiers said. "Or your friends will pay the price."

Rogue looked at Jubilee, who shook her head.

"I'll be fine," Rogue promised, before she followed the soldiers. _"Logan please hurry!"_

o*o*o*

Logan was standing under the jet in the woods, smoking a cigar. He looked briefly at the blue teleporter. He was the one who had attacked the president and apparently the one who was responsible for the attack on the mansion.

Although it, according to Jean, wasn't his fault since he had been controlled during the attack. Controlled by William Stryker himself! It had all been that bastards plan from the start to get his hands on Cerebro!

Nightcrawler, as the teleporter called himself, had apparently been one of Strykers experiments. Just like himself. Stryker was the one who had given him the adamantium claws!

And now he was going to make those experiments on the kidnapped children. And Marie. She'd better be alright. Logan swore to God, that he was going to gut every single person, who had dared to touch her!

He still remembered the last time she was kidnapped:

 _"So, what do you say? Give these geeks one more shot," he asked. "Come on, I'll take care of you."_

 _"You promise?"_

 _"Yeah. Yeah, I promise."_

Only a few minutes later, she had been taken away from him. He had promised himself that it wouldn't happen again! And yet, here he was...

He heard footsteps on the stairs. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he answered.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?" Jean asked. "Logan, I know that you are worried about her, but Rogue is strong. She is gonna be alright."

"I know."

"Listen, I know that you care very much about her..."

Logan looked at the beautiful redhead. He cupped her head and pressed his lips against hers. He needed something to distract his thoughts from Marie. And what better way was there than make out with a hot chick?

Jean pushed him away, begging him to stop and ran back inside the jet.

o*o*o*

Logan was lying inside his tent, and looked at his dog tags. Stryker had thrown them to him. And he had given them to him, more than fifteen years ago. He wasn't sure if it was an actual memory or if it was just a theory.

 _"Were you in the army?" she asked, looking at his tag. "Doesn't... Doesn't that mean you were in the army?"_

He had put it away simply because he couldn't answer her question. Damn it! How could a little piece of metal, mean so much? Not only was it the last clue to his past, but he also connected it to her.

 _"I don't want you to go." For a brief moment, he actually thought about taking her with him. But she seemed happy here and he didn't want to take that away from her, so instead he gave her the only thing that meant something to him._

 _"I'll be back for this." It felt more right to say that, than that he would be back for her. She was only 17 and he was..._

The zipper in his tent was opened, and Jean came in.

"Look," he began, but she kissed him and he kissed her back. He pulled her back down at the mat. Yes! This was what he wanted! He had wanted her, since he saw her walk into the Professor's office, and now he finally got her!

At least that was what he kept telling himself as he pulled up her tank top.

But then, he noticed the three marks on her stomach.

"No one has ever left a scar like you," she said as she turned into her true, blue form.

"What do you want, an apology?"

"You know what I want. The question is:" she asked and licked his ear. She changed form, and now it was Storm on the top of him.

The shapeshifter changed again, and Logan's heart skipped a beat. She had turned into his Marie. Every single detail was right. She even smelled like her! "What do you want?"

But it wasn't her, he knew that, (even though a part of him wished that it was) and pushed her off from him! "I want you out of here!"

She smiled. "What's the matter, big guy? Did I strike a nerve?"

Logan growled.

"Come on. What do you really want?" she asked. She then turned into Stryker, and Logan had to fight the urge to gut him! Or rather her.

She then turned into her blue self and left.

Logan rubbed his face and laid back down.

Marie. For a second he actually believed that she was here with him, where he wanted her to be!

It had felt so real. The voice, the smell... It was actually weird. Last time Mystique had posted like Storm, he had been able to smell the difference.

He remembered a couple of days ago, where Marie and he were going to watch the ball game. He had walked into her room, about fifteen minutes before the game would start. She had been in the shower.

He had sat down at her desk, while he waited and felt free to take a look at the paper then was lying on in front of him. It was a report on genetic mutations, filled with facts he didn't know himself;

Apparently, mutations could evolve in time. Maybe that was how Mystique had been able to smell just like the person she took form as?

Logan could still picture her, when she had come out of the bathroom, that day, just standing there, being beautiful. She had been wearing thigh jeans, and a black shirt and her hair had still been damp. And she was wearing his dog tag on her left wrist.

For some reason, it had seemed very right to him, that she was wearing it. I was like a symbol of her belonging to him. Wait what? No! She didn't belong to him. They were just friends. Besides, she had a boyfriend, he had told himself, despite how much he hated to think about it.

Logan looked at the dog tag again. "I promise, Marie. I'm coming for you!" he whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

The soldiers led Rogue down a hall. Two of them had a very tight grip on her arms, while the three others were walking behind her with their guns loaded.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

None of them answered.

There had got to be some way, she could get out of here. What if...? She concentrated and felt the pain of the claws in her hands. She still had Logan's powers!

She looked at the soldier on her left, before she kicked him in the hollow of the knee, making him lose enough balance for her to pull her arm free and use it to cut the one on her right, in the arm, making him let go of her!

The three other soldiers immediately started shooting at her, while she kicked backward, hitting the left soldier in the face and stabbing the right one in the chest!

For some reason, she didn't feel half as affected by the anesthesia arrows as earlier. Probably because her mutated immune system recognized it, and was able to fight it faster this time, and it made her feel powerful as hell! This must be how Logan felt when he was cage fighting, and he let his inner Wolverine get loose!

She turned around to the shooting soldiers.

"Come on, girl," one of them said. "We are willing to forget all about this little incident. If you will do a couple of favors for us."

"Eww!" Rogue answered. She ran straight towards them, ignoring the many arrows that broke through her skin. She managed to cut and gut two of them, and now she was standing in front of the last one, who had his useless gun pointed towards her, which she kicked out of his hands! The soldier looked at the gun on the floor, but instead of trying to pick it up, he pulled out a knife.

Rogue attached her fist and had her claws ready, but right before she hit him between the eyes, she pulled back her claws, and touched him, skin to skin!

He gasped for air, and she held on until she was sure that he wouldn't wake up the next two weeks! She let go and looked at the soldiers lying at her feet, while she caught her breath.

What had she done? This wasn't her... She hadn't wanted to hurt them... No. This had been the Wolverine taking over, making her follow her instincts, and do what she had to, for survival.

She took a deep breath before she ran back to the casing, and the others, to get them out of here! She stopped at least 20 feet away from the door, when she realized that someone was standing in front of it.

The large man wasn't armed. He just smiled and clapped his hands. "Bravo. Just what I had expected!" he said.

Suddenly Rogue felt something metal getting put on her neck, from behind. She tried to take it off, but as soon as she pulled it, a massive electrical shock ran through her body and she fell to the ground, gasping.

"Don't bother, my dear girl. The collar is designed to make sure that you'll behave, while we have a nice little talk," the man said.

"Who are you?" Rogue yelled.

"How rude of me. I haven't introduced myself." He reached a hand down towards her. "My name is William Stryker."

Rogue looked at his hand.

"Don't worry, I'm wearing gloves, so you won't be able to absorb me," he said.

Rogue's eyes widened. "How do you..?"

"Oh, I know quite a lot about you and your little friends," he answered.

Someone grabbed her upper arms and pulled her to her feet. Rogue tried to get free, but whoever was holding her, had a very strong grip.

"Rogue, this is my personal assistant Yuriko Oyama also known as Lady Deathstrike," Stryker said.

He walked past them, and Lady Deathstrike, made them follow him. They walked down the hall, past the soldier, who Rogue had knocked out and into a little office-like room, where Lady Deathstrike made her sit down in a chair.

"I have to admit that I'm impressed. I expected you to take down my soldiers, but I didn't expect you to do it that fast," Stryker said. "Maybe you do live up to your name after all, as the Rogue? Or maybe you just got it, when you absorbed the powers of the Wolverine?" Rogue gasped. He knew about Logan?

"Oh yes, I also know about that friend of yours," Stryker said, like he had read her mind. "You see, more than fifteen years ago, he volunteered to go through the procedure, which would make him the superweapon; Weapon X. By giving him the unique metal on his bones, he would be strong enough to defeat any enemy. Unfortunately, he refused to work with me and I moved on to my next project: weapon XI."

Rogue followed him with the eyes. What was the point of him telling her this? And more important: There had got to be a way out of here. She moved her focus from Stryker, to Lady Deathstrike, who was standing behind the chair, with her bare hands holding her shoulders, but as soon as she let go of her control, she felt a warning shock go through her neck.

"Let's just say it didn't work out either, but I didn't give up," Stryker continued. "And now, I've finally found the perfect solution. I call it: X-23. I'm only missing one last piece. And here you are."

Rogue breathed deeply. "I'm not gonna help you with anything!"

"No. I guess you won't help anyone, but your precious Wolverine. I have to say, I understand what he sees in you. You are absolutely gorgeous." His hand reached out and grabbed her breast.

"Don't touch me!" Rogue yelled and kicked him between the legs!

Stryker walked backward in pain, while she was hit by another shock from the collar. Stryker looked up, eyes filled with anger, as he walked towards her again with large and fast steps and grabbed her face with one hand, fingers pressing on her cheeks, leaning down, so their faces were inches from each other. "As I was going to say:" he hissed. "Since you've got Wolverines powers, you should be able to survive the procedure, for the X-23 program."

"I won't have his powers forever," Rogues said, in a high-pitched voice. It would only be a matter of time before his mutation left her. She barely dared to think of what would happen, if Stryker covered her bones with adamantium.

"Then you better pray that you keep them long enough," Stryker said with an evil smile.

Rogue felt something jab into her neck, and almost immediately, her vision started to get blurred. The last thing she saw, before she fell off the chair, was Stryker smiling to her.

o*o*o*

Mystique managed to infiltrate the base, and even though Logan wanted to be the one who went in there first, he had to admit that the blue shapeshifter was good. Thanks to her, they could all get in there.

Logan had a feeling that all of this, was kind of familiar to him... He knew that he had been here before. All the sensory perceptions, especially the smell of this place... He couldn't put his finger on it but...

"Oh my God the children," Storm said.

Logan followed her gaze to the surveillance camera, that showed the kids. That was where Marie was!

They split up, where Jean, Magneto, and Mystique went to get the Professor out of the copy of Cerebro and Storm, Nightcrawler and Logan went out to find the children.

It didn't take them long to find where the kids were. It seemed like the only way to get them out, was Nightcrawler teleporting them up from there.

Logan could count six kids down there, but he couldn't see Marie. "Rogue? Where is Rogue?" he called, just as Nightcrawler teleported to his side, holding a dark haired girl, who was around Rogues age.

"I don't know," she said. "The soldiers came down and took her, like hours ago."

"Where did they take her to?"

"Beats me, but it seemed important that she was the one they took."

Stryker. He had taken her! Logan couldn't wait for the elf, to teleport the rest of the kids out. He had to find Marie, before it was too late. Before Stryker could use her as a guinea pig for his experiments!

Logan took off his earpiece and put it down, before he left the others. A part of him hoped to meet Stryker on the way. He had a bone to pick with that old scientist!

He walked through the halls, trying to pick up Marie's scent, until he came to a large room. It seemed even more familiar than the rest of the place.

In the middle of the room was a vessel, filled with water. He had been lying in that vessel! He remembered gasping for air! By the vessel, something was boiling. Something grey, like melted metal. Adamantium!

Lots of hoses, led out from the vessel of boiling adamantium, with large needles on the end. As he looked at one of them, he could feel how they had been pressed through his skin, deep enough to reach his bones!

On the side of the vessel, he found claw marks. His claw marks.

Memories flashed before his eyes. Of him stabbing people trying to stop him from leaving. Of him running, covered in blood, and screaming in pain, as he looked at his claws. This was where it had happened! This was where he had gotten his adamantium skeleton!

"The tricky thing about Adamantium is, that when you first manage to get it to its liquid form, you have to keep it that way. Because once the metal cools, it's indestructible," Stryker said, as he walked in. "But you already know that. I used to think you were one of the kind, Wolverine. But I was wrong."

"Who am I?" Logan growled.

"A failed experiment. Nothing but an animal. You were an animal then and you are an animal now. I just gave you claws."

Stryker started to walk away. But Logan wasn't gonna let the man, who had cut him open, who had stolen his life, get away! Logan ran towards him, but the woman, who had come in with him, stopped him.

She was strong. Much stronger than Logan had expected, and it took him long, before he managed to stab a needle into her stomach and fill her with adamantium.

Stryker was long gone, and Logan knew that he had to focus on what was important: to find Marie.

He ran down the hall, finally picking up on her scent.

She was laying on a bunk bed in a cell. Logan cut up the door without problems.

She was unconscious or in some sort of sedation, but whatever she was, it told him that she no longer had his powers.

"Marie!" he called and knelt down beside her. She looked awfully pale. Logan pulled off his left glove, and without hesitating, he touched her cheek with his whole palm. At first, nothing happened, but soon he felt his powers getting pulled from him, with a stronger and stronger force.

Logan's vision got blurred, but he could still see when she opened her beautiful, brown eyes.

Rogue gasped for air and as soon as she realized what was going on, she pushed Logan's hand away from her. "Logan!"

"Marie," he whispered. He was leaning over her, his hands holding on to the bunk bed on each side of her, to hold his balance. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were only half opened. "Marie."

His hand went back to her cheek and caressed it, before he leaned down, until their lips met in a passionate kiss. It wasn't like those times Rogue had dreamt of Logan. This was better, much better. She felt completely safe, and she didn't even think about, that she had to be careful or keep concentration on controlling her powers. Everything was perfect and she enjoyed the taste of his soft lips.

Until she realized where they were. She pressed both her hand onto his chest to force him upward, and made their lips part. "Logan. We have to get out of here!"

Logan looked at her, and shook his head like he was trying to wake up from something. "Yeah... Yes!"

He got to his feet and took her hand, but before she even managed to sit up, both of them felt an awful pain in their heads! Logan fell to the ground, but he did not let go of her hand (luckily the hand that was holding hers, was gloved, cause the pain made Rogue lose all kind of control of her powers).

Both of them wriggled in the painful hell in what felt like forever, until it finally stopped.

"What was that?" Rogue whispered.

"Trouble," Logan answered. "Go!"

Still holding hands as they left the cell, both walking as fast as possible.

"This way!" Logan mumbled when the hall split.

"No. This way," Rogue said, pulling his hand in the other direction. "Trust me!"

Despite Logan knowing that there was an exit the other way, he still followed his Marie. But she didn't lead them to an exit. She led them to the control room.

"Marie, what are you doing?" Logan asked impatiently, as she sat down, starting to tap the keys.

"This will only take a few seconds," she said. The soldier she had touched earlier, had been one of the IT-experts, who knew about everything on the computers, which meant that she now knew about everything on the computers. And they contained something she wanted.

She found an USB key, and emptied it, to make sure that there was enough space.

Logan's eyes caught on one of the surveillance cameras and saw the rest of the team.

Suddenly their ears caught a loud, explosion-like noise! "Marie, we've gotta go, now!" Logan yelled and grabbed her hand. Rogue managed, with her free hand, to move the file to the USB key, and pull it out of the computer, before they both ran as fast as possible.

They reunited with the others, and together they all ran outside. Logan picked up Marie, since her feet were bare.

Jean opened the entrance to the jet, where Bobby and Kitty were waiting and everybody rushed in.

Scott and Storm started working on getting the jet in the air but something was wrong. They couldn't get it working.

Rogue walked around helping the kids getting their safety belts on.

"You okay, chica?" Jubilee asked.

"Yeah," Rogue answered. She looked briefly at Logan. "Yeah, I'm good."

None of them noticed that Jean had left the jet, before it was too late. Scott tried to run outside calling her name, but Logan stopped him, while the jet took off.

Rogue bowed her head, as Scott kept crying: "She's gone! She's gone!" Jean had always been so kind to her, and yet Rogue had been jealous of her, for being Logans love interest. And now she was gone...

The jet flew into the air, and towards Washington as the Professor had requested.

o*o*o*

"We've been searching for hours now, sir," the soldier named Bob said.

"We are not giving up. We've got our orders."

The boat kept floating over what was left of Alikai lake. Suddenly the divers came back to the surface, this time with what they had been looking for.

"Get him on the boat!" They managed to pull the large man up from the water.

Bob gave him the shot of the drug from the needle, while Hunter started the resuscitation.

Stryker started to cough until the water from his lungs came up. He sat up and looked around. "Is it all gone?"

"Yes, sir," Hunter answered.

"How about the mutants?"

"They escaped, sir."

"Also patient 23?" Stryker asked.

"Yes. The Wolverine got her out."

"Good," Stryker said. "Now, we just have to wait." He had had a feeling, that Jason, would screw up, so he had made a plan B, which only a few of his men knew about. I hadn't even been in the computer system. If Jason couldn't have all the mutants killed, Stryker would at least still be able to control some of them, now where the X-23 was going to be a success. He trusted that Wolverine would do everything in his power, to keep her safe, until she was ready for Stryker to take her back. All he had to do now, was be patient!


	5. Chapter 5

By use of the real Cerebro, the Professor soon found Colossus and the other students, when they returned to the mansion. All of them were very sad, when they heard about Jean Grey's fate. Almost everybody gathered outside the mansion the same night for a memorial ceremony, to glory their lost teacher, friend and girlfriend. Everybody had loved her and she had never given anybody reason to do otherwise.

Rogue could see Kitty crying a few feet away from her, holding Bobby's hand. Rogue herself was sitting between Jubilee and Kurt, who turned out to be a really nice guy.

One of the few, who didn't attend the ceremony, was Logan. Rogue had no idea where he was. All she knew, was that he had taken off on Scott's motorcycle, shortly after they returned, without a word about when or if he would be back.

"She seemed like a very good person," Kurt said, taking her out of her thoughts and back to the ceremony. Rogue nodded. She agreed, even though she had been jealous of the female telepath, for getting Logan's attention. thinking about it now, she felt like she had been acting very childish.

After the ceremony, the Professor ordered everybody to go to bed. Tomorrow, could those who wanted to, go back to their families until the school was ready for teaching again. He also gave Kurt the opportunity to stay, as long as he wanted, which he agreed to. He wanted to stay and help fixing the damage the soldiers had caused.

o*o*o*

Rogue couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning for hours. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see Stryker's evil smile.

She had feared what he would do to her, and what he had meant by her being the last piece in his project. She had feared that she would have become one of his controlled puppets, like Kurt, and Lady Deathstrike. But she wasn't. And she didn't have adamantium bones either. Hopefully, Logan had managed to rescue her, before Stryker got to do anything, but she had a feeling that, that wasn't the case.

Despite the Professors orders, she stood up, just to go for a walk. Hopefully, that would help fall asleep when she came back.

She walked down the hall, feeling a bit uncomfortable. The atmosphere all over the mansion, was so sad, after the attack and Jean's death and it didn't help that Storm had made it rain during the night, trying to wash away the footprints of the military boots on the ground, so they wouldn't have to look at them in the morning.

But that wasn't what made her feel uncomfortable. It was a weird feeling that something had changed. Not in the mansion, but inside her... She couldn't put her finger on it, but...

Rogue stopped when she realized that there was light coming out from the ajar door beside her. This was Logan's room. He was back.

She raised her hand to knock but stopped in the action. Logan had left to get away from everything, and he hadn't come back until everyone was asleep. He probably needed more time and sleep, before he was ready to see anybody. She should give him some space...

"Are you gonna come in, or just stand out there, like a creepy stalker?"

Rogues heart missed a beat, but she carefully pushed the door open enough for her to walk in. He was sitting on the bed, back leaning up against the wall, in a pair of jeans and an undershirt.

"Hey. I'm... I didn't know you were back..." Wow, that just made it seem worse! Idiot! "I mean, I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk, and then I saw that you were back, but I thought that wanted to sleep so..."

"It's okay, darling," Logan grinned.

Rogue couldn't help smiling, herself. She sat down beside him on the bed, and he laid his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry I just left," he said. He should have said something to her first, so she would know, that he wasn't gonna leave her behind again.

"It's okay, Logan. I know that you really cared about her." Rogue tried to sound understanding, but she couldn't hide the bit of hurt in her voice.

"No. I didn't," he answered.

"What?" Was he trying to deny it? Denial never led to anything good. "Logan, it's okay to be sad..."

"I know, darling. And at first I thought I was, but I felt confused. So I took off to get my head cleared," he said. "Now I know, that I was only attracted to her."

"But I thought that you..."

".. Were in love with her? Yep. So did I," he said quietly. Jean had been hot as hell and he had wanted to fuck her, but never more than that. "When we first came here, I quickly realized, that Jean was Scott's girl. And that Scott was the leader of the X-men. So my bestial instincts, made me want to fight him. Without thinking about it or even knowing it, I tried to make him weaker, and what better way would there be, than stealing his mate?"

Rogue sat up straight and looked at him. "So... you tried to hook up with Jean because you wanted to be the leader of the X-men?"

"No. I just couldn't stand the idea of someone, I don't respect, to be above me, so I followed my instincts."

Rogue wasn't sure how to react. It had been a horrible thing to do, but she couldn't help feeling a bit relieved...

"I guess, Stryker was right: I'm just an animal, with claws."

"No!" she said. She turned around, so she was sitting on her knees, looking him straight in the eyes. "You are not, just an animal, Logan! You are so much more than that! I know, I've seen it! An animal would only be thinking of its own needs. You don't do that. You gave me a ride, after I snuck on your truck, you followed me when I ran away and you got to the top of the Statue of Liberty, and almost died to save me! And it's not just me. You also tried to save the kids when the mansion was attacked, and you traveled all the way to Alkali Lake, to help getting us out of there." Holy shit, she was babbling... "The point is, that you care about others. You are not an animal, Logan, you are a friend. My friend." She wanted to be more than friends, but that was not what she should focus on, right now. Right now she had to make him understand his value. But she didn't know how else to explain it so he would understand it.

Logan didn't say anything. He just reached out and took her bare hand and squeezed it. She laid back against him and he held her even closer than before. "Thanks, Marie," he mumbled.

She stroked his arm, and they sat like that for a while.

"I guess this wasn't really how you had hoped to spend your twentieth birthday, huh?" Logan mumbled.

"Not really, no," she admitted.

"Well, I didn't get the chance to get you a real present, so I guess this will have to do." He reached into his pocket and pulled out something shining.

"Your dog tags," Rogue said. She thought she had lost them. "Where did you get...?"

"Stryker threw them to me, when I met him," Logan explained. "I want you to have them." He carefully took her wrist and tied them around it.

Rogue watched his movements when she suddenly remembered... "Logan I've got something for you too!" she said and jumped off the bed.

"It's okay, it can wait," he began. He didn't expect her to give him anything, and he actually liked sitting like this, holding her.

"No, you've waited long enough!" She opened the door and walked as fast as she could, back to her own room, with Logan right behind her. She turned on the light and grabbed the black USB key on her desk. She turned around and reached it to a bit slower to him. Logan took it and looked from it to Marie.

"It's... Logan, this contains everything, Stryker knew about your past."

Logan's eyes widened. This was what Marie had downloaded from the computer. She had known that they had been running out of time, but she had still... "You risked your life, so I could get back my memory?" That was all he could say.

"Yes. Logan, you mean very much to me, and I know how much this means to you. You deserve to know what happened..." She didn't manage to say anymore before Logan pulled her into a very tight hug.

"Thank you, Marie!"

It was long before he let go of her, but she enjoyed every second of it, and she didn't fear to hurt him, for as much as a moment.

"You really would do this for me?" Logan asked again and looked at the USB key. It wasn't often that you would see him this emotional, but no one (at least what he could remember) had ever done such thing for him before.

"Of course," she answered.

Logan stayed with her the rest of the night, holding her, and keeping every nightmare away.

o*o*o*

"Rogue! Watch out!" Nightcrawler yelled. He teleported to her side, wrapped his arms around her and teleported her 20 feet away, right before the rock landed on her!

She had stopped to catch her breath for the fourth time this class and she didn't understand why she couldn't keep up with the rest. She used to…

"The whole world is going to hell, and you're just going to sit there?" Logan asked, and looked at them.

Rogue took a deep breath before she started running again.

o*o*o*

"You okay, darling?" Logan asked when the class was over and they were walking down the hall.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered.

"Really? You didn't look fine in there."

"I'm just a little out of shape, that's all," Rogue answered. Just like she had been the last three training lessons since the classes had started again.

"There you are, chica!" Jubilee said. "Come on, let's get going!"

"I'll see you later, Logan," Rogue said.

The two of them had agreed to go shopping today. They had gotten very close, since the kidnapping two months ago.

"So, how are you and Wolvie doing?" Jubilee asked when they were sitting in her car. "Is something gonna happen between you two or what?"

"Jubilee!" Rogue said blushing.

"Is there?"

"I don't know," she admitted. She wanted something to happen between them, but she doubted that it was ever going to be. Logan had slept in the same bed as her the last two months to keep away her nightmares, but it had never gotten any further than hugging and spooning. "You know I want it, but... I'm starting to think that we'll be better off as friends. He still hasn't mentioned the kiss..."

"And neither have you, am I right, chica?" Jubilee cut her off. "Come on, what are you afraid of? You like him and he likes you, and yes, you know that, because he gave you, his dog tags! Just tell him already."

"I really don't know..."

"Fine. Then I'll do it."

"No! I'll tell him, I promise! I just need to figure out how."

"Now we're talking, girl!" They had a great time in the mall, where Jubilee, found all kinds of cloth for Rogue to try on. Here among a lot of sexy underwear...

Rogue almost forgot about her appointment with Hank McCoy later. He had taken over the nursing in the mansion until they found someone else who could take the job, but there were not many mutants who were educated doctors.

Rogue wished that she could have gone to a normal doctor, she wouldn't risk meeting in the halls, but she knew that she had to do it. She had felt sick almost every day the last two weeks and she couldn't keep blaming it on bad food.

She was sure that it was nothing, which was why she hadn't told anybody, but she just wanted to be sure.

o*o*o*

Logan was walking down the halls towards the kitchen when he heard soft crying.

It came from Marie's room!

He was knocking on the door before he knew it. The door was opened, but it was by Jubilee.

"What happened?" Logan asked. He tried to look past her, but the door wasn't open enough for him to see her.

"I don't know, Wolvie," Jubilee said quietly. "She won't tell me. At first, she kept mumbling that it shouldn't be possible. Then she got very quiet a few minutes. Then she started crying again, this time saying that she didn't know what to do."

"Do about what?"

"Beats me, but I think that it has something do with when she saw Beast for an appointment or something."

She had been to the doctor? She hadn't mentioned anything about that to him.

"You know, she might want to open more up to you, so how about that, I just leave you two alone?" She walked past him not closing the door.

Logan watched as she walked down the hall. Sometimes he really wondered why Marie kept hanging out with her, but the girl had good sides too.

Logan turned his attention to the ajar door and pushed it open, so he could walk in. She was laying in her bed, under the duvet, with the back turned to him. She looked up towards him, when she heard him come in.

"Hey, kid," he said softly, to make it sound like everything was going to be okay (even though he had no idea what was wrong in the first place), but it just made her eyes filled with new tears and she started sobbing down into her pillow again.

Logan closed the door and walked over to the other side of the bed. He sat down and laid a hand on the duvet, where her shoulder was. "What's going on?"

She just shook her head and kept crying.

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Logan mumbled. He hated seeing her like this. "Does this have anything to do, with the doctor's appointment?"

"Yeah," she cried.

Logan gave her shoulder a squeeze. It had to be something serious for her to react this way. "Marie," he said and held a hand down in front of her face. "You know, that if you need any healing, then..."

"No." She shook her head. "Your healing can't fix this, Logan."

"Yes. I don't think there is any illness or injury it can't get rid of." Heck, it could even grow back his bones.

"It's not an illness!" she cried out loud. Louder than she intended to.

"Then what is it? Marie, you can tell me." Please tell me, he prayed silently. He wanted to help her, but he couldn't do so, if he didn't know what was wrong.

Rogue breathed deeply and sat up, so the duvet fell off her, and she could look him in the eyes. "I'm... I'm pregnant!"

Logan's eyes widened. "Pregnant?"

Rogue nodded. "At first I didn't believe it either," she mumbled. Yes, she had noticed that she had had a hard time catching her breath, had been eating more and been nausea, but she had never thought about being pregnant. Especially not since she had had what she thought was her period, but according to Beast that happened to some women. "But the test results are clear. I'm two months pregnant."

Logan didn't know what to say. Pregnant. He couldn't... It didn't make sense! Marie... He didn't even know that she had been seeing someone, since Bobby. The only guy, besides himself, he knew of, was the elf. And he would never have pictured them as a couple. They were more like siblings in his eyes than anything else.

But she had been with somebody, and it made him angry as hell! Who dared to touch his Marie?! His? No, who was he kidding? She didn't belong to him, even though he wished that she did, but he would never be able to make her as happy as she deserved to be. Still, he didn't like the idea of someone else holding her.

"Who is the father?" Logan asked.

Rogue hesitated, still not looking at him. "I don't know."

"Marie," Logan said, as soft as he could, trying to suppress his jealousy. "Tell me. I promise I won't hurt him." He had been very protective, since Bobby broke her heart, and it actually seemed like most of the guys in the mansion, were afraid to get near her, because of him.

"I can't! Logan, I'm a virgin!" she answered loudly. "I shouldn't be pregnant!"

Logan was stunned. Literally stunned. He had no idea what to say. Virgin. How could she be two months pregnant, if she never had sex with anybody?

Two months? Two months ago the mansion had been attacked! "Stryker," Logan growled realizing the truth.

"Yes," Rogue whimpered. "He said that he needed me for a special project... But I never thought that..." New tears ran down her cheeks, and her breath turned into sobs.

Logan clenched his fists. If Stryker hadn't been gone, he would have gotten out and tortured him to his death! But the son of a bitch was dead already. Lucky bastard.

Logan turned his attention back towards Marie, who had lain down again, sobbing with her back turned to him.

He had promised to take care of her, and now this had happened! Great job!

No. He couldn't focus on the anger now. Right now, he had to be there for Marie.

He laid down beside her and put his arm around her. She took his hand with both of hers and held it firmly as he pulled her close, as the only thing he could do, to make her feel safe.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait**

* * *

When Rogue woke up the next morning, her first thought was, that maybe it had all just been a nightmare. But somehow she knew that it wasn't. It was all too real... Damn it!

She turned around and realized that Logan was gone. He must have left after she had cried herself to sleep...

She pulled the cover tighter around herself, to just get back a bit of the safe feeling, that Logan had given her last night, but not even he could take away the problem growing inside her...

Suddenly she felt her stomach contract, making her jump out off the bed, and rush to the bathroom!

After emptying her stomach, she just sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. Oh God, what should she do? She had just turned 20 and had barely finished high school. She was in no place to have a little baby...

A baby... She hadn't thought about it like that since she found out... At first, all her focus had been on that it couldn't be possible until she had realized the only way it could have happened. After that, she had only thought about the fact that she was pregnant because of Stryker's experiments…

"Pull yourself together," she mumbled. She stood up and grabbed her toothbrush, brushed her teeth and styled her hair. She then walked back into her bedroom, where she got dressed before she turned to the door.

She took a deep breath before she left her room and walked down the hall.

She wasn't going to look for Logan. Something told her, that he needed some time alone, after last night... No, she was heading to the Professor's office. She needed to talk to him about this.

She barely managed to knock, before she heard him say: "Come in, dear."

She hesitated a bit before she walked in. "Hello, Professor."

"Hello, Rogue," he said. He was sitting at his desk. A closed book was lying in front of him, telling her that he had been reading. Good, that meant she wasn't disturbing in the middle of something important. "Have a seat, dear."

She sat down in the chair in front of the desk, feeling a bit like a schoolgirl, who had been sent to the headmaster's office.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked, like he was trying to make it more comfortable for her.

"Oh... No, thanks, Professor," she answered quietly.

"How may I help you, dear?" he asked, jumping right to the point. Damn it! She wished that she had accepted his offer about the tea. At least that would have bought her some time.

"I... I need to talk to you..." she began. She wondered why he didn't just read her mind, instead of asking her. Probably to be polite to her, which she in any other case, would have appreciated, but right now, she almost wished that he would do it, so she wouldn't have to tell him. Maybe he had already read her mind, and just waited for her to tell him herself, to make her feel more comfortable, or something like that? Once again she took a deep breath, looking down. "I'm... pregnant," she heard her own voice say.

"I see," the Professor said.

Rogue looked up and was a surprised to see that there was no sign of judgment in his blue eyes. Only kindness. She wanted to say something, ask something… but she didn't know what...

"Does the father know?" the Professor asked.

"I don't know... I don't even know for sure who the father is..." she answered quietly. She did have an idea about whom it was, but she didn't want to sell him out. Especially not if she was wrong. She quickly continued: "But it's not what you think! I didn't want this to happen... Stryker... he used me for an experiment and..." Suddenly she couldn't hold it back anymore. She thought, that she had gotten most of it out of her system last night, but once again the tears were running down her cheeks.

"Now, now, dear," the Professor said very softly. He drove the wheelchair to the other side of the desk and took her hand. "I know it might seem to be the end of the world, but I can assure you, that it is not." He gave her a tissue.

"I... I don't know what to do, Professor," she cried as she dried her eyes.

"You need to do, what you, in your heart, feel is the right thing, dear. And I promise you, that no matter what your choice is going to be, no one here will judge you. If you choose, that now is not the time, that you are going to have a child, it would be understandable. And if you choose to keep it, both of you will always have a home here."

Rogue looked into his friendly blue eyes. "Thank you, Professor."

o*o*o*

He didn't need a paternity test to know. He just knew in his guts that he was the father. "I used to think you were one of the kind, Wolverine. But I was wrong." So this was what Stryker had meant... He had probably taken some DNA-samples from him when he went through the Weapon X procedure. As Logan realized the truth, he felt himself getting angrier. That fucking son of a bitch! He wanted to find the rest of the bastard's body and cut it into pieces, and...

It wasn't before Marie started to whimper in her sleep, that he realized that he had been tightening his grip around her, from pure anger. Shit! He quickly loosened his arm, and slowly, got out off the bed. Luckily she didn't wake up. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, he found himself walking as fast as he could, nearly running, towards the exit. He had to get out. He needed air!

It wasn't before the cold air hit him, that he stopped and just breathed deeply, fist clenched. "Damn it," he growled, repeating the words louder and louder towards the sky, trying to let out at least some of the frustration, that nearly made him shake from pure anger: "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" He frankly didn't give a shitty fuck, if he woke up anybody! That didn't matter to him! What mattered was Marie's condition. And what he was going to do about it...

He felt a very strong urge to go back to his room, pack his stuff and get the fuck out of here!

 _"You running again?"_ He could see the younger Marie, standing before him. But she looked so much more fragile and hurt than he remembered... or maybe he just hadn't thought about it before now?

He wasn't sure, but no matter what, a new part, even stronger than the urge to run, told him that he had to stay... Damn it! Since when did he have a conscience?

 _"Since you met Marie,"_ a voice inside of his head said. It was right.

Logan didn't want to admit it, but the girl had done something to him. She had somehow changed him from the person he had been before they met. He had actually started to care! And he knew that he couldn't leave her behind now. Not when she was gonna need him the most... He let out a sigh, and lit a cigar. This was not gonna be easy...

o*o*o*

Logan spent the most of the day in his own room. He wanted to give Marie some space, and time to think. She was a smart girl, and he really hoped that she was going to make the right decision...

It was getting dark outside when he finally pulled himself together and went to talk to her. He still hadn't figured out what exactly he was going to say when he knocked on the door.

"Oh, hey there, Logan," Marie said when she opened the door.

"Hey," he said, as he walked in. Luckily Kurt and Jubilee weren't here... "So. How are you doing?"

"I don't know," she answered quietly. She walked past him and sat down on the bed. "Alright... I guess."

Logan just nodded. "Look, I know that this is gonna be a tough time..." he began, at the same time as she started to talk. "Sorry, you go first," he said quickly.

"I've talked to the Professor," she repeated.

"Oh. Good. So what did Wheels say?" he heard himself ask. Damn it, he was bad at this!

"Well... He said, that no matter what I choose to do, then I would always have a home here..."

"'Course you will," Logan said. He sat down beside her and put an arm around her. Rogue smiled weakly and leaned her head on his shoulder. Logan softly kissed her hair. "It's not gonna be easy, but we're gonna help you through this, darling. And someday, in a couple of years, you'll have your family..."

Rogue sat up and looked him in the eyes, in one move. "What?" She blinked and shook her head in small moves. "Logan, I'm not... I'm not gonna have, an abortion."

Logan removed his arm from her. "What?! Marie..."

"I've been thinking about it all day, Logan. I can't go through with it. It's my baby..."

"No! Marie, you can't think of it like that!" Had she lost her mind?! "It is not a baby! It's a weapon!"

"It's not a weapon, Logan!" Marie said and stood up. "I know, that Stryker wanted to use it for his evil plans, but he is gone now!"

"That doesn't matter!" Logan said, much louder than he actually wanted to, as he stood up. "He didn't just use a random sperm; he chose the genes very carefully, to make sure that it wouldn't be weak or scared! It's going to be a murder-machine!" He felt himself shaking from pure frustration and breathed heavily.

Marie just looked at him with an expressionless face, like she was waiting for him to get out whatever he wanted to say. She then took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. "Do you really think that I haven't thought about that? Logan, I know, that the genes won't make it easy, but if the child gets raised surrounded by love..."

Logan started to walk back and forth. He had to move before he ended up breaking something. He was so angry... No, he was goddamn pissed! He was pissed at Stryker, for using his Marie, he was pissed at Marie, for not being able to see how horrible a mistake she was making, and most of all, he was pissed at himself! If he hadn't frozen, when he saw Stryker that fucking night, instead of gutting him down, and save Marie, this would never have happened!

"Logan, please," Marie said. "I want the baby. I'm not... happy... That Stryker did this to me, but... Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to grow up and have my own family. Of course, it would have to happen after my travel around the world, but... When I got my powers, I thought that it was never gonna be possible - not even after that I started to gain the control, but now..." Her voice cracked and she swallowed. "I want to focus on the positive part of this. I know that you think it's a bad and stupid decision, but to me, it just feels right." She hesitated a few seconds before she said so quietly, that only Logan's strong hearing was able to catch it: "I just wished that you would be a little more supportive."

"Supportive?" he repeated. He clenched his fists. No! He couldn't let his anger control him. He breathed deeply a couple of times, before he was able to talk in an almost calm voice: "Marie? What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't expect anything, Logan," she said calmly, trying to hide the sadness, the question caused her. She loved Logan and she knew that he also cared about her, but she had learned long ago, that Logan wasn't the type of man, who you should have high expectations to. At least not if you didn't want to get disappointed.

"We both know that they used my DNA!" Logan said. "We both know that I'm the father!"

"Yes. I know. But that doesn't mean that I'm gonna hold you responsible. It's not like you knocked me up or anything."

"Well, that would have been better!" Logan heard himself say. He meant it. If they just had, had sex, the genes would be random. There was no doubt that they had used the fiercest and bloodthirsty genes, to make sure that it wouldn't fail.

Marie looked away from him. "Well, I'm sorry that, that isn't the case." She looked back at him and said: "But I'm still gonna keep the baby. And if you won't support me in my decision, then I guess, that is how it is going to be."

Logan sighed. "I'm sorry, Marie. I can't." That was all he said before he left her room.

o*o*o*

A week went by, where Logan and Rogue didn't speak to each other. They barely saw each other, and the few times they did, they avoided all kinds of eye contact.

Logan had no idea what to do. Four times, he had started to pack his bag, to get out of here, but each time he had ended up unpacking it again. There was just something in his guts, that told him, that he had to stay. But why? There was no way he could convince Marie not to have the child, she was way too stubborn for that.

Logan didn't remember much from his own childhood, except the night, where the man, who he had believed was his father was shot, and he killed his biological father, and then ran away with his half-brother, where they would do what they had to, to survive. Fight, steal, hurt people... The child would probably end up being like him, most likely worse... His father had never been there to teach him, how to behave, or how to control his powers... Maybe if the child had the right guidance, someone to teach it how to control itself...

No. No matter how much he wanted to be there and help Marie, there was no way, that he could help her raise the child. He wasn't made to have children. He would be a horrible father! He had spent fifteen years on his own, where all he had to care about, was himself.

Logan turned in the bed, looking out of the window. This was probably gonna be another sleepless night...

 _Logan found himself, walking into_ a very white _room. It was so bright, that it hurt his eyes. At first, he thought it was empty, but then he noticed a bed in the middle of the room. Marie was sitting in it, holding something wrapped in a white blanket. She looked up and smiled widely. Without a word, she handed him the baby. He looked down, at the bundle and was about to remove the blanket from its head, when a cold, familiar voice, said: "One of the kind, just like you, Wolverine."_

 _Logan looked_ up, _and saw that Stryker was sitting on the bed, instead of Marie. He reached for the baby, who had started crying._

 _"No!" Logan yelled, cutting Stryker's arm off, but it just grew back! Logan turned around and ran as fast as he could. He couldn't let Stryker take away his child! Even though he ran as fast as he could, it seemed like the door got further and further away from him... "You can't protect it, Wolverine!" Stryker's voice resonated. "You can't protect it!"_

Logan sat up in his bed, gasping. It had just been another nightmare! He pulled the duvet off and left the room. He knew that he wasn't gonna get any more sleep tonight, so there was no reason to stay in bed.

Instead, he just walked around the halls, until he decided to sit down, in the television room. He just sat there, thinking about that stupid nightmare. What the hell did it even mean? For some reason, it seemed like he wanted to protect the child...

Before he got to think anymore about it, he heard the sound of bare feet, walking down the hall, coming closer and closer. It didn't take long before he could smell her. She stopped at the door when she saw him. She was holding a plate with a piece of cake.

"Oh... hey," she said.

"Hey," he answered.

She looked like she couldn't decide whether to go in or leave.

"Can't sleep?"

"No, I... erh... got hungry and..." she looked down at the cake, and made an insecure giggle.

"Well, nobody is stopping you from sitting down and eat."

Marie got the hint and sat down beside him. Logan watched her as she ate the cake, and somehow felt like hadn't seen her in much longer than just a week. His eyes started to wander, and stopped at her belly, that still didn't show any signs of pregnancy. Suddenly he felt the same urge to protect the baby... just like he had felt in the dream...

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Marie asked, when she noticed.

"Because I'm sorry, Marie," he answered. "I shouldn't have acted the way I did."

Marie placed the plate on the table. "Logan, it's okay. I get it."

"No, it's not okay. I should have been there for you." He reached out and stroked her cheek. "Marie. Are you sure that you want to go through with this?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'm gonna have this baby Logan."

"Okay... Then I promise, that I'm gonna be there."

"Logan, I told you: you don't have to..." she began.

"But I want to. I wanna help you raise this baby, Marie. Our baby."

She looked at him for a few seconds. "You really mean that?"

"Yeah. I do." She smiled happily, but briefly. "What made you change your mind?"

Logan hesitated. "The baby is gonna have my genes. I'm the only one, who can teach it to control itself."

"Is that the only reason?" Marie asked, when she noticed that he wasn't meeting her eyes.

"No," Logan admitted. "I'm also gonna do, because I love you."

Marie only hesitated, a few seconds, before she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Logan pulled her as close as possible, and kissed her back, passionately. "I love you, too, Logan!" she said.

Her hands started to wander towards the button in his pants, while his hand reached up under her nightdress. They had been longing for each other for so long time, by now, and tonight, they were finally gonna have each other.

o*o*o*

"Logan, there is someone, who would like to meet you," the Professor's voice sounded in his head. Holy shit!

It didn't take long for him, before he opened the door, to where Marie had spent the last hours. Everybody was standing around the bed, but as soon as they noticed that he was here, they stepped aside.

Marie was sitting on the bed. Her hair was wet with sweat, but she was smiling so happily as she looked up from the bundle. Logan walked closer and sat down on the chair beside the bed.

"Is..." he began, but he had no idea what he was going to ask.

"It's a girl, Logan," Marie said.

"A girl..."

Marie nodded. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Yeah."

She carefully laid the bundle in his arms, and he looked down, to see, a small face, smiling at him. She was beautiful... "She is so small," he mumbled, without looking away from his daughter. His daughter... He had a daughter... He could hardly believe it. He was a father... The only thing that assured him that this was true, was the strong animalistic urge to protect the small child in his arms.

"Yeah," Marie said.

"What should we name her?" Logan asked.

"Well... I've always liked the name `Laura´."

"Laura?" Logan repeated. "Yeah. Welcome to the world, Laura D'Ancanto Howlett." He carefully gave Laura back to Marie, and sat up in the bed beside her, so both of them were holding their daughter.

None of them noticed that the others had left the room.

* * *

 **I know that the story has been going pretty slow, but i promise you: the real story is about to begin! I've planned the main plot, but if any of you have something you would like to see happen, please let me know in the comments. I'm not promising anything, but you never know!**

 **Also please let me know what I can do better!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: the song "You'll be in my heart" doesn't belong to me**

* * *

"Class dismissed!" Logan said.

The students, who had been standing in a strict line, instantly left the Danger Room. Once again, Logan had, had to play teacher, since Cyc, `wasn't feeling well´ as the Professor had described it. Again. Logan didn't get why the Professor kept asking him to cover for him. The whole institute knew what really was wrong: Scott had never recovered after Jean's death. And he probably never would, if he didn't pull himself together. Sure, he had his good days but most of the time it seemed like it was going down the hill… So Logan would have to be a sub for now.

He wouldn't admit it of course, but he actually liked it. His memories of being in the army gave him a great advantage when it came to asserting himself to the kids and make them follow his orders.

It was about eight o'clock when he carefully opened the door to their room. Already before he walked in, he could hear his wife's soft voice singing to their daughter: _"For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm. This bond between us, Can't be broken. I will be here. Don't you cry,"_

Logan felt like he could watch her for hours, as she walked soothing around, rocking Laura in her arms, as her sweet voice lulled their daughter to sleep. Logan knew that it wasn't a real lullaby. It was a song from one of Marie's favorite movies from her childhood. And somehow, he felt like the song couldn't fit any better.

Marie looked up and smiled at him. Logan walked over and firmly laid his hands on her shoulders, to let his body press against hers and looked down at Laura, whose eyes was about to close.

 _"When destiny calls you, you must be strong. I may not be with you, but you got to hold on they'll see in time, I know we'll show them together,"_ Marie continued. Logan hummed the melody and moved in pace with her. _"'Cause you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart from this day on, now and forever more. You'll be in my heart. No matter what they say. You'll be here in my heart. Always."_

Laura finally fell asleep, and Marie placed her in the cradle, beside their bed.

o*o*o*

Rogue woke up in the middle of the night, only to see, that Logan once again had caught on Laura's small whimpering, and had taken care of her, before she started crying. He was once again sleeping in the chair, holding Laura in his arms.

Rogue loved the sight of the two of them, but she would lie, if she said that she wasn't the least bit surprised to see how well Logan handled the role as a father. When he was with Laura, it almost seemed like he changed into a whole new person. At least that was what Jubilee claimed. She had countless times, asked what the heck had happened to the Wolverine.

Rogue wasn't surprised that, that was what the others would think, but she knew that it was a part of him. A part that he had been hiding deep inside and ignoring, so nobody would see it, not even himself, but she had seen it. She had been able to see it since the day they first met, even though it was very small. It was the part of him that wanted to protect the people he cared about. The part that would do anything to make sure that they were safe and sound. It was that part, that had made him save her life back then. And the very same part, would make sure, that Laura would grow up happy, and protected from even the tiniest threat.

She pushed the cover aside and walked to the chair, where she knelt down beside him. "Logan," she whispered, and carefully touched his arm.

He immediately tightened his arms around their daughter and opened his eyes looking around.

"Hey," Rogue said, catching his attention.

He looked down at her, and seemed to relax a little more. "Hey, darling."

"How about that the two of you go back to bed, huh?"

Logan looked down at Laura, who was still sleeping in his arms, and nodded. Rogue watched, with a smile as he carefully put Laura back in her cradle.

"What?" Logan asked, when he saw her looking at him.

"Nothing," Rogue mumbled and shook her head. She climbed back to bed, and he laid down beside her, pulling her close. She kissed him softly, before resting her head on his chest.

o*o*o*

The sound of a child's laughter filled the room. Laura's small hands reached into the air, trying to grab the blue tail, that was hanging above her.

"Uhh, she's almost got it! Come on girl, you can do it!" Jubilee cheered. She was sitting on the floor, in Logan and Rogue's room, while Kurt was sitting on the bed, beside Rogue, holding Laura. Kurt lowered his tail enough for Laura's small hand to grab the tip. "She caught it!" Kurt said. "You caught my tail, kleines Mädchen!"

"Of course she did! She is a girl after all," Jubilee said. "Don't, worry, girl, I'm gonna teach you everything about the power of being a woman!"

"How about letting her enjoy being a child the first couple of years, huh?" Logan suggested.

"Hmm... Well you're the daddy, so I guess, if you say so, Wolvie," Jubilee said. She laid down on the floor, bending her head backwards, to stretch her neck. "Hey, what do we have here?" she exclaimed, when her eyes caught on the book on the lowest shelf in the bookcase. She grabbed it and sat up. "Seriously, guys, who keeps pictures in photo album anymore?"

"People who are keeping with traditions," Logan answered.

Jubilee opened the book. "Aww look! It's your wedding day, guys!" She sat up on the other side of Rogue. "Chica, you were so beautiful in that dress! Especially with that belly! Just big enough to tell that you were four months pregnant!"

"Can you believe, that that was almost a year ago?" Kurt asked.

It had been one of the happiest days in Rogue's life, right after giving birth to Laura. She could clearly remember the day that Logan had proposed to her:

They had taken his motorcycles for a ride to the woods, where they liked to spend time together, away from everybody else. Where nobody could see them or hear them, and they couldn't see or hear anybody but each other. Rogue loved the woods, and she had been enjoying its beauty, when Logan had taken her hands and looked her deeply into the eyes, as he had knelt before her.

Rogue was never gonna forget what he had said: "Marie. You know that I'm not very good with words. But when I decided to give you a ride back then... It was the best decision I've ever made. You've always made me feel something. Something I haven't felt since I lost my memory. At first, I didn't understand what it was, but I do now. I love you, Marie."

He had let go of her hands and pulled out a small black box. Inside it was a beautiful ring, with three small diamonds! "So what do you say, Marie? Will you be mine?"

Tears had been running down Marie's cheeks, as she nodded. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Logan put the ring on her finger, before she wrapped her arms around his neck, crying from happiness, while he swung her around.

They got married a month later. They had planned on something small and simple, but that simply isn't possible when you are friends with Jubilation Lee. She made sure that nothing was the slightest bit too small or simple: Rogue didn't even have to ask, if she wanted to be the maid of honor. Jubilee helped pick, the cake, the dress, the decorations, everything!

Rogue actually liked it, but she reminded herself that she wasn't the only one who was getting married. "You are sure that it isn't too much?" Rogue asked.

"Nothing is too much, as long as it makes you happy, darling," Logan answered, so they let Jubilee do her work and thanks to her, they had a big beautiful wedding, with the whole mansion invited (even Bobby and Kitty were there).

Everyone congratulated them, but Rogue didn't have to be psychic to know what many of them were thinking: they were going too fast.

But Rogue didn't care.

Sure, she had thought of it herself, but she knew that this was right. She could feel it! She knew that she loved Logan, and he loved her. And it was not just by telling each other. Almost every action towards each other was filled with some kind of loving affection: He had helped her after he found out that she thought she had saved his life, he had given her his dog tags, to show her that he cared, he had saved her from Magneto, then done everything he could to save her from Stryker, she had given helped him get back his memories… And not just that; every touch was filled with love, every hug, every kiss, every caress… They were made for each other!

o*o*o*

Rogue ran down the hall, holding Laura in her arms. Dammit, where was Logan? She knew that he was back from riding motorcycles with some of the other guys, but she didn't know where in the mansion they were...

Finally, she found him, in the other end of the hall, with Hank, Kurt and Bobby (whom Hank had invited).

"Logan!" she called, as she walked towards him.

"Rogue?" Logan's first thought was that something was wrong. Marie usually wanted to give him some `man-time´ when he was with the guys. But then he realized that she was almost beaming at him. "Did something happen?"

"Laura said her first word!" she answered and handed Logan their daughter.

"Really?" Logan asked pretty surprisedly. He wasn't sure when it was normal for a child to talk, but it still seemed pretty early. "What did you say, Half-pint?"

The little girl smiled widely. "Bub!"

Logan almost felt his heart drop to his stomach and his smile started to fade.

"Did you hear that?" Kurt said. "She said `bub´! She sounds just like her father, don't you, Kleines Mädchen?"

"Come on, guys, it's obvious that she is trying to say Bobby!" Bobby said and walked closer, but stopped when Laura started to growl at him.

"Laura, we talked about this;" Logan said. "No growling!" It was mainly the way she communicated. She was 9 months old by now and she would very rarely try to talk baby-talk. Instead, she would make sounds in approval for the things or people she liked, and growl, for example, if somebody she didn't like came too close, like now. Of course, she didn't know that Bobby had been in a relationship with her mother, but somehow she knew that her parents didn't like him too much...

"Yep. She is just like you, Logan," Bobby said.

Logan resisted the urge to growl at him.

o*o*o*

"Are you sure that you can handle it?" Rogue asked for the fifth time.

"Come on, chica. Have a little faith in me, will ya?" Jubilee asked. "It's just a couple of hours, and Kurt's gonna help out, so how hard can it be?"

Suddenly Kurt teleported to her side. "Freund!" Laura cheered and reached her hands towards him. For some reason, Laura loved his teleportations, especially when she teleported with him.

"Ha, speak of the devil!" Jubilee laughed as she handed the child to him. "Guten Tag, Kleines Mädchen," Kurt said.

"Well, you two should get going," Jubilee said, and directed Logan and Rogue towards the door. "The class is gonna start in ten minutes."

"But..." Rogue tried.

"No, buts! We'll be fine. Now go!"

Rogue kissed Laura's forehead. "See you soon, sweetie," she said before Jubilee practically pushed her out of the door.

"Are you sure, this is a good idea?" Marie asked and looked over her shoulder towards the closed door.

"They'll be fine, Marie, stop worrying. It's just a couple of hours," Logan said and put an arm around her. "Besides; you haven't trained in nearly three years. Trust me, this will be good for you."

"Yeah, you're probably right," she mumbled as the walked down the hall, towards the danger room. She knew it was silly of her to worry so much, but she simply couldn't help it! It was her instincts as a mother.

Sure, Logan and she had been out a few times, after that she had stopped breastfeeding, where Storm had taken care of Laura, but now that she was old enough to walk, sometimes even run, they had to keep an extra eye on her.

Despite that Laura was only two years old, she had a habit of getting into trouble. Like the time, Rogue had had her back turned for only ten seconds, to find a toy that had rolled in under the bed, and Laura somehow had managed to open the door, and get out. Rogue had searched the whole mansion, until the Professor had contacted her telepathically, and told her to come down to the kitchen, where he had found Laura, stuffing herself with Storms chocolate cake...

Logan had been laughing his ass off when she had told him. However, he hadn't thought it was funny at all when Laura somehow, had realized that you could use the chandelier as a swing and he had had to stand on a table to get her down... (They had no idea how on earth she had gotten up there in the first place).

o*o*o*

"So, I guess, that went well," Logan said, when they were walking back towards their room.

"Oh yeah, wonderful," Rogue mumbled. It hadn't taken long for her to realize just how out of shape she was when the Danger Room was turned on, and they ran around in what seemed to be the end of the world, with a giant, mutant-killing robot (for some reason the Professor found it necessary for them to be prepared for something like that...).

"Hey, you haven't been in the field since, you found out that you were pregnant. It's only natural for you to be out of training. Besides you did better than, a certain someone else," Logan said, when Bobby and Kitty walked past them, none of them looking too proud of themselves.

Rogue couldn't help giggling. "Yeah... But seriously, Logan, Storm is right. You can't just dismiss a class, whenever you feel like it. I know it didn't go well, but it's not like we could get killed in there for real..."

"Hey, as I said: I'm just a sub. And frankly, I think I did everyone a favor," Logan said, and nodded towards Kitty and Bobby.

"You're right. I never realized that a danger room session could turn you on like that," Rogue laughed. She could still hear Logan say: "The whole world is going to hell, and you are gonna fuck, instead of doing something useful?"

"I have to admit I would prefer to do it somewhere a little more tasteful," Logan said.

"You mean like the time we did it in the bathroom, on our honeymoon?" Rogue suggested.

"Exactly. Or like that time we did it in Cyc's new car."

"Those seats sure were comfortable," Rogue said and kissed him. "How about that we have some more fun soon?"

"Sounds good. I'm sure that we can convince `Freund´ and `auntie Jubes´ to babysit again," Logan said, pulling her closer.

"We could say you have invited me to a fancy restaurant," Rogue said.

"Yes. A restaurant that only serves dessert," Logan whispered against her lips. They managed to let go of each other, before they entered their room.

"There you guys are!" Jubilee said and pulled them in. Laura ran over to them and Logan picked her up.

"The most amazing thing happened! You have got to see this! Kurt, give me another candy!" Kurt took a piece out of the bag of sweets and tossed it to Jubilee. "Laura! Would you like another game of 'getting warmer'?"

"Yeah!" the little girl cheered. Logan put her down and she covered her eyes.

"Now, no peeking," Jubilee said. She started walking around the room, looking for a place to hide the candy. She ended up hiding it in the bed. "Good, now find it, kiddo!"

Laura removed her hands and started walking around the room, looking for the candy. At first, it seemed like she was just looking, but then she started to take small, quick breathes through her nose. She walked towards Kurt who was holding the bag of sweets.

"No, no, you're getting colder, kiddo."

Laura stopped, turned around and sniffed in the air again. She then walked towards the bed, still sniffing.

"Getting warmer, kiddo."

Laura grabbed the cover and used all her strength to pull it off the bed, until the candy fell down on the floor. Laura picked it up and proudly handed it to Jubilee, who took that candy and picked up the toddler. "Nice job, kiddo."

She gazed at Logan and Rogue, who was staring at their daughter, literally stunned by what they had just witnessed.

o*o*o*

"Logan?" Marie asked, and sat down on the bed. He was having that look on his face again, as he stared at the ceiling. She had seen it before:

She had seen it, when he had realized she was pregnant with his child, when Laura had said her first word, the first time she had growled at Scott… "Talk to me."

"She is just like me," Logan mumbled, without looking at his wife.

"Of course she is, Logan. She is your daughter." It seemed better than saying something like `we knew that this would happen´...

"You know, that it's not just that, Marie," Logan said and looked at her. This was what he had feared. He sat up and swung his legs over the other side of the bed, so he was sitting with his back turned to her. "She's only 2, and she's already becoming... becoming..."

"Becoming what, Logan?"

"Damn it, Marie, no matter how much we want it… No matter how much we try to pretend... Laura is not like the other kids here! She was made as a weapon."

"She's our daughter, Logan!" Marie said sharply. "I know, how I got pregnant, and I know, that you are worried. Don't you think I'm worried about her too? But we can't change the past. The only thing we can do is make sure that she feels accepted, that she feels safe, that she feels... loved!"

"And what if that isn't enough?" Logan asked.

Marie sighed. She crawled across the bed and wrapped her arms around him. "Then we'll figure that out too."

o*o*o*

"Sir, the submarine is ready."

"Good," Stryker said. It had been four years and nine months but it was finally time to take back what was his. They had used the time to prepare for her arrival.

They had collected as many of the surviving experiments, weapons and other inventions from the old base, and built a new one. A base, they were sure wouldn't be found, not even by Professor Xavier!

Stryker smiled. Everything was slowly falling into place.


	8. Chapter 8

"Laura!" Logan called. Somehow the kid had managed to sneak out again, and once again Logan was the one who had to find her. "Come on, Half-pint, we're leaving in a few minutes!"

Luckily she would never leave the property, if she was alone, but she loved to play around in the large garden, where she would hide and watch the others looking for her.

"Hmm… I wonder where she is," Logan said loudly. He stopped under the tree, where he knew that she was hiding, and looked around at the other kids. Laura was pretty good at finding new places to hide every time, but her favorite hiding spots, were those where she could climb. "Well, I guess this means that we'll just have to go to the beach, without her."

He started to walk away, but immediately, turned around, when Laura jumped from the tree, intending to land on his back. "Gotcha, Half-pint!" he said, lifting the little girl above his head, making her laugh.

"Daddy you knew I was there!"

"I have to admit that I did, Half-pint."

"You could smell me, because of your powers!"

"You're right, I am born, with very strong senses."

"Yeah! It's my powers too, daddy!"

"Really? Are you sure? Cause I think that it's because you have such a big nose!" he said and pinched her nose with two fingers. "And such big ears!"

Laura laughed and pushed his hand away. "No, daddy! Wheels says that I have the same powers as you, and Wheels is very smart!"

"Yeah, he is," Logan answered. "So. Are you ready to go to the beach?"

"YEEAA!" Laura cheered. Logan sat her on his shoulders, and walked back to the mansion, still wondering how on earth Marie had managed to convince him that a day at the beach, with the others, was a good idea...

Marie was watching them from the window. Every time she saw Logan with Laura, she could feel her heart melting. From day one, Logan had been amazing. It was like he could always tell whenever Laura needed something, probably because he could sense it, but she knew that it also was due to the strong father-daughter bond between them.

"Ready to go?" Logan asked when he came in.

"Not yet, we have to change into swimsuits, first," Marie answered.

"I don't have any swimming trunks," Logan said. "I guess that means that I'll just have to stay at home, huh?"

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Marie asked with a grin. "Sorry but that's not gonna happen. Jubilee and I bought a pair for you, when we bought the swimsuit for Laura." She pulled out a plastic bag, from under the bed. After they had gotten what they needed, for Laura, they had walked past another shop, where a mannequin, was wearing the swimming trunks. "I bet Wolvie would look very handsome wearing something like that," Jubilee had joked.

"Something tells me, that the colors will suit you," Marie said as she pulled it up from the back.

Logan stared at the fabric in her hand. "Yellow and black?"

"Yeah. Go ahead, try them on." She took Laura down from his shoulders and nodded towards the bathroom.

Logan hesitated before he took the fabric from her hand. As he was changing his cloth, he got a look at himself in the mirror. He rarely bothered to look at himself, not even when he brushed his teeth. He knew what he looked like and thanks to his healing-factor, that wouldn't change anytime soon. But now, it actually seemed like something had changed... He hadn't gotten any grey hairs or wrinkles. In fact, he actually seemed... better, than last time he had paid attention to his reflection ... Even though it was a long time ago since he had really looked at himself, he still remembered a person with a much darker facial expression and heart. Now, the person, who stared back at him, almost looked... Happy? He was actually happy. He had given up on such thing a long time ago, thinking that that was something that belonged to people with families and shit... But look at him now... He had a wife who bothered to buy swimming trunks for him, and a beautiful daughter. He would do anything for them.

"Logan, are you coming?" Marie called.

"I'll be right there, darling," he called back. When he opened the door, Marie was wearing a loose, summer dress with black and white stripes, covering her green bikini and Laura an orange swimming suit. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I like them," Logan answered. "What do you think, Half-pint?"

"You look good, daddy!"

"He sure does," Marie said. Logan pulled her close and kissed her softly.

"Mommy, are we going now?" Laura asked and pulled her dress.

"Not yet, honey. We have to put on some sunscreen first." She pulled the bottle up from her bag. Even though Laura had shown signs of a healings factor, Marie wouldn't risk for Laura to get sunburnt.

"No! It smells bad!" Laura protested.

Logan knelt down to his daughter. "Listen, Half-pint, I know it stinks, but it's gonna make sure that your skin won't get red and hurt." Laura didn't look too convinced, so Logan tried another tack tick: "And it's gonna make mommy sad, if you don't have it on. We don't want mommy to be sad, do we?"

"No. Sad mommy is bad," Laura said. She held out her arm towards her mom.

o*o*o*

"Here we are, kiddo, welcome to the beach!" Jubilee said.

Laura looked around with big eyes, amazed by the sight as they started to unpack their stuff. There were literally no people but the little group of mutants, which probably had something to do with the fact that they were in March and the only reason the sun was shining, was because of Storms manipulation of the weather. It was the only way, to make sure that no one would discover them.

Logan put Laura down and she immediately ran towards the ocean. Logan made sure to be right behind her. She reached the water, just as a wave rolled in. Laura jumped back with a hiss, when the cold water hit her legs.

"Easy, Half-pint," Logan said and squatted down beside her. "How about that we do it together?"

Laura nodded and he took her much smaller hand in his. "Come on, one step at the time," he said and lifted his foot. Laura mimicked his move, as he took a small step towards the water. Another wave flushed in, and Logan bent his arm to lift Laura a little, to make sure the water wouldn't hit her in the face.

"Again!" Laura laughed when she was back on the ground.

"Logan, not too far out!" Maria called.

"Chillax, Mama-bear," Jubilee said. "Wolvie has got this."

"And she is wearing water wings," Kurt added.

"Exactly," Jubilee said. "Man who would have thought that you would become so overprotective?"

"I'm not overprotective," Rogue argued. "I just don't want anything to happen to her." She tried not to think of it, but she knew that Laura was made to be strong. Just like Logan... She knew that Laura would be able to fight, and defend herself against all kinds of dangers when she grew up. But right now, she was just a little girl, and Marie would do anything to protect her, like she would have done, if Laura had been born without any powers.

"Sure you're not," Jubilee answered, not even trying to hide her sarcasm. "Just try to relax all right?"

Rogue just nodded, not wanting to argue with her best friend. She looked back towards the ocean, where Logan was teaching Laura to swim. "There you go, Half-pint; kick as hard as you can." It didn't take long, before the little girl was swimming around like a fish.

"Who's up for some beach ball?!" Jubilee called and smacked a ball towards the ocean. Kurt teleported to where the ball was about to land, and sent it back into the air.

Laura jumped up trying to catch it, but it was too high. "Here you go, Half-pint," Logan said and sat her on his shoulders. The other mutants were running into the water, and the game began, Marie, Jubilee, Kurt and Logan and Laura on one team and Storm, Kitty, Bobby and Hank on the other team.

Scott stayed on the beach, watching the others enjoying themselves. He regretted having come here. Even though it had been nearly five years, he still couldn't stand being near water. I simply reminded him too much of the day he couldn't protect her. The day he lost his Jean.

 _"Scott. Scott. Scott."_ Her voice had been hunting him almost every night, since she sacrificed herself and now every day too. Scott rubbed his forehead, wishing that it would just stop!

He looked up again, and saw Laura hitting the ball, as hard as she could. He would never admit it, but he was actually jealous of Logan. The bastard had everything he could wish for, and had in Scott's eyes never done anything to deserve it. Scott himself had had to fight for his Jean, ever since she met Logan, but he had lost her anyway.

o*o*o*

"Are everyone in possession?" Stryker asked.

"Yes, Sir!" the soldier answered. "Do you want us to attack now?"

"No. Not before my signal. It has to be the perfect timing," Stryker said and looked at the little group of mutants through the periscope. They couldn't do it, as long as the Wolverine was near the target.

o*o*o*

"I'll go take a leak, darling," Logan mumbled.

"Have fun," Marie answered, without taking her eyes of Laura. She was trying to let the girl have some fun on her own. It was fine. With everyone around, nothing should happen to her. At least that was what Marie kept telling herself. Laura seemed to be having the time of her life, as she ran around among the others.

The girl stopped when she heard someone say: _"Sir, I've got the target within reach. Do you want me to strike?"_

 _"Not yet. We need the B-team to have the Wolverine occupied,"_ someone else said.

Laura walked closer to the bushes, where the voice came from, and saw a man, dressed in green, lying on his stomach. It looked like he was talking to his hand.

The man looked up at her and his eyes widened. "Sir, the target has discovered me. I'm gonna strike."

 _"No, you idiot!"_ Stryker yelled, but it was too late:

The soldier got to his feet and grabbed Laura's arm, but when he tried to cover her mouth, she bit his hand! The man gritted his teeth and instantly pulled his hand back, giving Laura time to scream at the top of her lungs: "MOMMY! STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!"

The next thing the soldier knew, he received a kick in the face, from a barefoot, that seemed to drain all of the energy from his body...

o*o*o*

"Fucking idiot!" Stryker growled. He had blown their cover, but they couldn't stop now. The Rogue had probably absorbed enough of the soldier, to know that he was alive by now. They might have lost the element of surprise, but they still wouldn't get another chance like this, so they would have to go to plan B!

"B-team, take down the Wolverine now!" He yelled into the walkie-talkie. "The rest of you; attack now! If you can't kill them, at least keep them distracted until we can bring out the big guns!"

 _"Roger."_

o*o*o*

Logan had just pulled his swimming trunks back up, when he heard Laura's cry for help. He instantly ran back towards the beach, with his claws protruded!

He hadn't run more than a few meters, before chains shot out of nowhere, wrapping themselves around his claws, and a bullet hit him in the back of his head! The next thing he knew, he was fighting at least twenty soldiers, who all were much stronger than they looked! Every time Logan managed to stab one of them, he received, at least five bullets or cuts, from their guns and knives, himself! He was so distracted by the fight that he didn't notice, that the sky had become darker, and lightning was striking down not far away from him. But he was not too distracted to hear her scream in pain. "Marie," he mumbled. His blood started boiling from pure anger, as he turned around, stabbing another soldier in the guts.

o*o*o*

Only a moment after Rogue had knocked down the soldier and picked up Laura, who was both growling and crying a bit, the beach was stormed with soldiers, and a horrible fight broke out!

All of the soldiers were either armed with guns, stun guns or knives, and even though the mutants did everything in their power to fight the army, they simply weren't strong enough.

Rogue knew what they wanted. She had seen Stryker's plan in the soldier's memories. She wanted to help her friends, her family, but her instincts as a mother, made Laura's safety her first priority. She was about to run as fast as she could, away from the fight, but suddenly two soldiers were standing in front of her. The one soldier was holding a knife and the other a gun, both ready to use them on her, to get Laura.

She quickly turned around and ran towards the woods. When she got to the nearest tree, she sat Laura on one of the boughs. She knew it was pointless to try to run, but even though she didn't have Logan's powers anymore, she would everything within her power to protect her daughter!

As soon as she had let go of the girl, she turned around, and grabbed one soldier by the wrist, the other by the cheek and didn't let go, before they were completely unconscious.

"Laura honey, mommy wants you to climb as fast and high as you can," Rogue said and picked up the gun. "Promise me that you won't look down, and don't move before someone from the family tells you to, okay?"

Luckily Laura did as she was told, and started climbing the tree, just as Rogue shot a soldier in the face. No one was coming near this tree as long as she had a saying in it. But deep down, she knew that it wasn't enough. Everyone was fighting for their lives and even with the power of the weather, it seemed very clear, that it was Stryker's men, who had the upper hand!

"Logan where are you?" she whispered. She didn't get much time to think about it, before more soldiers made their way towards her, and she filled their bodies with bullets! Unfortunately, she soon ran out, and had to go back to using her skin as a weapon! But that was easier said than done, when the only bare skin most of the soldiers had, were parts of their faces. She couldn't fight them forever, and it didn't take long, before she was surrounded.

She felt someone stab a knife in between her ribs. It didn't go deep, but it still made her scream in pain. She grabbed the hand holding the knife, but before she managed to drain him too much, she felt something like small needles jab into her other arm, followed by a strong electricity flow through her body, making her fall to her knees. She tried to get back up, but instantly felt a new shock, that sent her back on the ground. "Logan... save her..." she prayed. She couldn't. She couldn't save her daughter...

Suddenly a bang sounded. She looked up and saw Nightcrawler, Jubilee and Shadowcat appeared in front of her in a blue cloud of smoke. Kurt's leg was twisted, Jubilees arm was broken, and Kitty was bleeding from her forehead, but they still managed to fight off most of the soldiers!

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Jubilee said and reached a hand towards her friend.

"No!" Rogue managed to shout. "They want Laura! I have to protect her!"

"Where is she?"

"In the tree!"

"I'll get her!" Nightcrawler said, but before he managed to teleport up there, one of the soldiers blinded him with a spray and knocked him out!

"Kurt!" Rogue yelled. She didn't have much energy left, but she still managed to grab the soldier by the face, sucking him dry!

"We have to get Laura out of here, like right now!" Jubilee said.

"I know!" Rogue said, panting. "But I can't touch her. I'm not in control right now."

"I'll take her," Kitty stated.

Normally Rogue wouldn't let Kitty anywhere near her daughter, but she knew that her former friend was the only one here, would be able to get Laura to safety at this point. "Laura, sweetie, come down."

For some reason, Laura knew that it was best to do what she was told right now.

Rogue knelt down in front of her daughter, and cupped her face, making sure only to touch her hair. "Sweetie, you have to go with Kitty."

"No!" Laura protested. "I want to stay with you, mommy!"

"I know," Rogue said, feeling the tears fill her eyes. "But remember: I may not be with you, but you have to be strong. Okay? I'll be there as fast as I can! I love you, Laura." She kissed the top of her daughter's hair, before Kitty picked up the child.

Rogue looked into the other girl's eyes. "Take care of my daughter."

Kitty nodded, before she turned around and ran, all she could as she turned her mutation on, making both Laura and herself penetrable.

Rogue and Jubilee ran back onto the beach, to face the soldiers, but then realized that all of them were gone. Stryker was standing on the beach, behind something that looked like a small, white satellite.

"What the heck is that thing?!" Jubilee asked.

"Allow me to demonstrate!" Stryker answered and pressed the button. The machine instantly sent a strong wave into the air, that made Rogue, Jubilee and everyone else, who was standing on the other side of the machine, fall unconscious.

Kitty felt the wave too, but due to her distance from the machine, it only made her too dizzy to make her power remain on. She could barely see or hear anything but kept running as fast as she could.

"Hmm, a tough one," Stryker said. He pulled out his handgun and fired. Kitty screamed in pain when she felt the bullet hit her in the back, making her fall forwards.

o*o*o*

"Marie!" Logan called as he ran through the woods. He was covered in blood from the soldiers, but he didn't give a shit about that. All he cared about was getting back to the beach, from where he could hear plenty of guns firing. Marie, Laura. He had to save them. He was almost there, when he felt some kind of shock wave hitting him. It made him stumble, and grab onto the trunk of the nearest tree.

He had to continue. He had to! The first thing he saw, was her bleeding in the sand!

"Marie!" He ran over and fell onto his knees beside her, pressing his palm to her cheek. "Marie!"

He felt the pull, through his hand, and Marie gasped for air. "Logan." She pushed his hand away. "Where's Laura?!"

He then looked around. There were no signs of his daughter.

"LAURA!" he called. "LAURA!"

"DADDY!" Logan instantly got to his feet, running towards his daughter's voice.

"LAURA!" Rogue called, running right behind him.

"MOMMY!" Her calls were distant.

"LAURA!" Logan could smell him. Stryker! "LAURA!"

"DADDY!"

"LAURA!" he kept calling. "LAURA!"

They finally reached the place where the submarine was about to dive down. Stryker was standing on the top of it, holding Laura, who cried and kick about, by the straps on her bathing suit.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" their daughter screamed heart-rending, reaching her hands towards them.

"NO!" Marie screamed.

Logan jumped into the water, trying to catch up with the submarine, which was already very far out.

Stryker laughed. "Oh, Wolverine. At least you can't say that you didn't try." He then climbed down it the submarine, before it disappeared from the surface.

Rogue was about to jump in the water as well, but suddenly she couldn't move her body! It was like she had no control at all!

 _"Rogue, stop. You will drown,"_ the Professor's voice sounded inside her head.

"I don't care!" she yelled. "Let me go!"

 _"I'm sorry, my dear, but your death will be pointless."_

"No! No please!" Tears were running down her cheeks. "LAURA!"

 _"I'm truly sorry, my dear,"_ the Professor said, before he let the heartbroken young mother, fall into a deep sleep.

o*o*o*

Laura woke up in a room she had never seen before. She looked around, to find her parents, but there was only a very big, old man with glasses. "Who are you?"

"Me?" The man smiled. "I'm your new best friend."

"Where am I?"

"That doesn't matter. You are not leaving anytime soon."

"My daddy will come for me, bub!"

Stryker laughed. "I don't think so. In fact, you might just as well forget about him."

"I'll never forget my daddy or my mommy!"

"Oh, I think you will," the man said and reached for something behind him. "You see; I'm gonna give you a gift. The very last adamantium bullet, I've made." He then pulled out his gun and placed it in front of Laura's forehead.

Laura heard the bang, and fell onto her back, as the adamantium bullet, made its way through her skull and into her head, erasing all the memories of the little girl she had been.


	9. Chapter 9

"Logan, we should stop for today!" Beast called after him.

Logan heard him, but ignored him. Instead, he sped up the bike and took a deep breath. Nothing. Still fucking nothing! No sense of the soldiers, no sense of Stryker. And no sense of his daughter.

"DADDY!" Every day since she had been taken, he could hear her cries for help in the back of his head. How she had been crying for him to save her. Logan tightened his grip on the handlebars. She had been begging him to save her. But he couldn't. His greatest fear for the last five years had come true: He had failed his daughter! He had to find her!

Logan could hear one of the bikes behind him, speeding up as well, and from the corner of his eye, he could see the furball drive past him. Logan immediately hit the brakes, when Breast drove up in front of him. "'The hell are you doing?!" Logan yelled. He could hear the others stopping behind them.

"Logan we've been searching all day," Beast said.

"If you wanna go back, then go," Logan growled. "But I'm not giving up." He was letting go of the brake.

"Neither are we," Bobby said. "We want to find her too, Logan."

"But when we do find her, we need to be at our strongest. We would be too tired to fight anyone at this point," Beast said. The actual plan was to track Laura down, and then call for reinforcements. But something told him that the Wolverine wouldn't have the patience for that.

Logan growled. He hated to admit it, but he knew that Beast was right. As much as he wanted to find Laura, he had to make her safety the first priority. If anything went wrong when they found them, he had no doubt that Stryker would grab Laura and run like that fucking coward he was.

"Fine." Logan turned the bike around and raced back to where they had landed the jet. "Sorry, Half-Pint." Hopefully, Marie's team had more luck.

o*o*o*

"Don't worry, chica, we'll probably find her tomorrow," Jubilee said.

Rogue just looked at her. She knew that Jubilee was only trying to give her hope, but she had said the same thing every day the last two weeks. It had been fourteen days since their daughter had been taken from them. Fourteen days, where they had done nothing but searching, without any luck. It felt more like fourteen years since she had been holding her little girl in her arms. She would give anything, for being able to do that again. Even if it meant that she could never touch again she wouldn't hesitate to give up on that. All she wanted was to get back her daughter safe and sound.

When Rogue had woken up, fourteen days ago, she had stumbled out of bed, screaming her daughter's name. She had looked all over the room, praying that it had all just been a dream, but then she had realized that the Professor was sitting by the opposite side of her bed.

None of them had said anything. They didn't have to. Marie had looked into his blue eyes as her vision had become foggy. "No…" she had whispered, before she had collapsed crying on the floor, knowing that her worst nightmare had become reality.

The Professor had come to the other side of the bed, trying to comfort her, and tell her that Logan and a lot of the others were out looking for her, at this very moment.

"Alikai Lake. They've taken her to Alikai Lake!" Rogue had exclaimed. She had seen it in one of the soldier's memories. "Contact them! We have to tell them to go there!"

"Calm down, my dear," the Professor said. "I don't think she is at Alikai Lake."

"She is! I have the soldiers memories…"

"Yes, but I do not believe that it is the only memory of Laura's whereabouts."

At first, Rogue hadn't understood what he had been talking about, but it didn't take long before another memory told her that Laura had been taken to somewhere in Canada. Another showed a secret base under the Eiffel Tower… Rogue had clutched her head, feeling like every soldier she had touched on the beach, were trying to scream the loudest to be heard. Not just about the locations, but all of their memories of their families, friends, childhoods, had been fighting to get first in line.

"Professor, I can't…" she had cried.

 _"Now, now, my dear,"_ she had heard his voice, say inside her head. Even though it had sounded normal, it had still made itself heard above all the others. _"We'll take care of this together."_

As the Professor had promised, they managed to put every single new personality into its own box. It hadn't taken long for Rogue to realize that Stryker had been more than ready to do this. He had prepared to attack them for years. He had taken every little detail into account! He had given every single soldier different information's about where they would go, probably to prevent someone with psychic powers or herself to find out the real location!

"We will find her, my dear," the Professor promised.

"How?! We have no idea where they've taken her!"

"Maybe we do," Xavier had mumbled thoughtfully.

"What do you mean? All we've got is a bunch of locations we know that they didn't take her."

"It seems so. But what if Stryker wanted us to think that?" the Professor had elaborated. "What if one of them is in fact, the place they are keeping her?"

Rogue hadn't known what to say. The Professor had a point. Stryker was more than sly enough do something like that, but what if he was wrong? That would mean that they would waste valuable time, and give Stryker even more time to… Oh god... What was he gonna do to her little girl? Just the thought of her child being in the presence of that monster, made her sick! But… What if the Professor was right? There was no way, that they could take that chance.

Rogue sighed. Now they could cross off another location on the list she had made with help from the Professor.

"Maybe the boys had more luck than us?" Jubilee suggested.

Rogue still didn't reply. Instead, she left the underground parking facility and walked towards the jet shed, hoping, praying that her friend was right.

 _"Jubilee, I think she needs some time alone,"_ Rogue could hear Storm say after she had closed the door behind her. Earlier this morning, Logan had given her his powers. He had done that every single day to better their chances. But it hadn't helped and it always took so long to wear off. Not to mention that it filled her with all of his fears and thoughts about Laura, and anger towards Stryker and himself. He was blaming himself for losing Laura, even though she kept telling him that it wasn't his fault.

 _"But Ro, I literally can't stand seeing her like this,"_ Jubilee answered. _"I wanna help her!"_

"I know, but we are all doing the best we can."

 _"It's not good enough!"_ Rogue could hear the tearful voice say. She bowed her head. Their conversation described exactly what she was feeling. They were doing all they could, but it wasn't enough! If it was, Laura would be here now.

o*o*o*

"Why the hell can't you find her?" Logan yelled. "Logan I have tried…" the Professor began.

"Then try again, try harder! You can find everyone with that machine!"

"That is not exactly true, Logan," Xavier answered, trying to be patient. "I remember telling you that Cerebro can't detect Magneto either."

"You know that's because of his fucking helmet!" Logan growled.

"Whatever the reason, I can't seem to detect Laura nor Striker. I'm willing to try again, but I'm afraid that the outcome will be the same."

"What if…" Rogue heard her own voice say. "What if… if she's gone? You can't find someone who is…"

Logan turned around and cupped her head. "She is not dead." He wasn't yelling, but his voice couldn't be any more clear. "Marie, look at me."

She did as he told her and looked up into his hazel brown eyes.

"Stryker wanted her alive, so she is alive."

Rogue's vision was becoming blurry with tears. "But what if something happened? If.. if they crashed the submarine or… or…"

"Stop it," Logan whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. "Stop it. Laura is alive! She has got my healing factor. She is alive and we're gonna find her, got it? No matter what it takes, we are gonna find our daughter!"

Rogue wanted to say something. Just something. But when she opened her mouth, all that came out was small wimps as the tears started to run down her cheeks.

o*o*o*

The jet had just landed, and the roof was about to close above it when Rogue entered the jet shed.

Logan was the first to get out. His eyes met hers and even before he shook his head, she knew, that they hadn't found her either. Of course not. They would have contacted her if they had. It was almost funny, how she had told herself the same thing the last two weeks and it still wouldn't get through her skull.

Logan walked down the stairs and wrapped his arm around her. When she had been younger, all Logan had to do to make feel good was hold her close. But not even Logan's arms could make feel better.

"We should get something to eat," Hank suggested.

"I'm not hungry," Rogue replied, letting go of Logan. She knew that the others were worried that she would end up starving herself from depression, and for their sake, she had been eating. But right now all she wanted was to go to bed, so she could get up in the morning and continue the search.

"I'll have something send up to your room," Hank said.

"Thanks," Logan said before they left. None of them said much on their way through the halls. Neither when they reached their room.

Rogue started to unbutton her sweater.

Logan considered going to the Danger-room, and set it to make it seem like he was fighting a hundred Stryker's. It usually helped him let off some of the anger, every time he would cut through the bastard's face, or stab him in the stomach, making the guts fall out, imagining that it was the real Stryker. Imagining how he would use the adamantium on his claws to torture his "creator". To let the animal take over and have the Wolverine inflict as much pain as possible before he would end up killing him, when the man was crying for mercy, begging him to kill him. Then, he would slowly, let his claws slide through the throat and watch as the son of a bitch choked on his own blood.

"I think I'll take a shower," Logan mumbled.

Marie just nodded, as he closed the door behind him. He took off his cloth not caring where he dropped it before he stepped into the shower cubicle and turned on the water. The water was cold as ice when it hit him gritted his teeth. It was not only annoying as hell, it also sent him fourteen days back in time, when he had jumped into the seawater, to get to his daughter.

o*o*o*

As soon as he jumped into the water, the adamantium around his bones weighed him down, but he didn't care about that. He had to get to that submarine! If he could just get close enough to jab his claws through the surface of the submarine…

He could feel himself sinking, but there was no time to stop. Instead, he tried to swim forward and get to the surface to breathe at the same time, but it seemed impossible, and he ended up swallowing more salt-water than air.

He kept swimming though, and it seemed like he was getting closer to the submarine. In fact, it wasn't sailing very fast, but Logan didn't care about that. As long as he could get to Laura, nothing else mattered!

He was so close.

He was about to cut the submarine open, when some kind of invisible force, pushed him countless feet back! Logan couldn't find his balance. He was sinking. Everything was getting darker around him.

The force had made him lose the last bit of air in his lungs. He could barely see the grey submarine sailing away. Logan tried to reach for it, but it was useless. He was too far away and sinking down. _"Laura…"_

Logan felt something grab onto him and pulled him upwards. He coughed, making the water he had swallowed come back up and breathed fast. He was above the surface! Logan immediately sat up, looking around over the water, to spot the submarine but it was gone. No. No!

He was about to jump off the floe he was sitting on and back into the water when someone grabbed his left arm. "Logan don't!"

Logan turned around, in one move, punching Bobby in the face, for what he had done.

For some reason, he could still hear the sound of the boy's jaw breaking.

o*o*o*

Even though all she had wanted was to get to bed, Rogue couldn't sleep. Instead, she pulled the covers aside and walked to the window.

A cloud was sliding past the full moon, letting the light shine down on the garden. Rogue didn't need light to know what was out there, though. She sighed and looked at the tombstone. "In memories of Kitty Pryde", it said. Despite how much Rogue had hated that girl, she had died, trying to save Laura. They had had the funeral in the evening after they had gotten back from the beach. Everyone except Logan had been there. He had been out searching for Laura at that time, and hadn't returned before late at night. But Rogue had been there. Everyone had been crying. Rogue had cried too. Mostly because of Laura, but also because of Kitty. She had sacrificed herself, for her daughter and Rogue would forever be thankful towards her for that.

She felt sorry for Bobby. Despite how much he had hurt her, he didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve that kind of pain. But instead of isolating himself, he had been with one of the search teams every day, since his jaw had gotten better. Rogue didn't know if he was trying to distract himself or if he wanted to finish what Kitty couldn't, and to be honest she didn't care either. If he could help her get her daughter back, the reason didn't matter.

As Rogue looked at the tombstone, she could hear the screaming and gunshots around her... So many of her friends had gotten hurt... Either by lost limbs, bullet wound, broken bones...

Rogue pressed her hand onto her chest where she could feel her heart beating. She remembered doing the same years ago when she had felt alone and scared. "You'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart." She could almost hear Laura's voice singing along, as she had done every night since she started talking. She couldn't sleep before they had sung the whole song. Who was singing it with her now?

She heard him pulling the covers aside and leave the bed, but she didn't turn away from the window. He carefully put his hands on each of her shoulders and kissed the back of her hair.

Rogue bowed her head, feeling the tears running, once again. She kept telling herself not to. That it wouldn't help anything. Tears wouldn't bring Laura back. Logan removed his hands from her shoulders and put his arms around her, pulling her close. She reached up and caressed his bare arms. None of them knew how long they stood there, but both of them were thinking the same: "We'll find you, Laura. I promise."


	10. Chapter 10

Two small hands were holding onto the metal pole. Her arms were hurting, but she was not allowed to stop. She kept placing one hand in front of the other. It was the only way to get to the end of the pole.

She stopped, wanting to know how far she had come. It felt like she had been doing this forever and there was so far to the other side. She tried to turn her head, but she couldn't get far enough to see. In the attempt, she forgot to focus on her hands, which caused her to loosen her grip, and her right hand started to slide from the metal pole!

It wasn't before now, that she realized that the floor under her was gone and she screamed as she was only hanging in one arm.

She couldn't see the ground! She had no idea how far down it was, but she would guess about a million feet. Or maybe there was no floor at all? That meant that she would just keep falling and falling and falling!

"HELP!" she cried, tears running down her cheeks. Her fingers were slipping…

 _"X-23. Don't panic. Just reach up and grab the pole with your other hand again,"_ a woman's voice said.

X-23 looked around but she couldn't see anyone. She reached her right hand towards the pole, but it was too far away and her arm fell back down to her side. Another tear fell from her cheek and down to the buttonless hole. _"I'm gonna fall! I'm gonna fall! I'm gonna fall!"_ She kept thinking. _"No!"_ She tried again, now swinging her body to the side. This time, her small hand was wrapped around the cold metal.

The girl still hung there, crying, scared, wanting to get to safety.

 _"Do not look down. Keep looking at where you're going,"_ the voice instructed.

The girl removed her eyes from the endless hole she was hanging above, and focused on her target, placing one hand in front of the other.

o*o*o*

In the control room, Dr. Deborah Risman, let go of the button to the microphone. She looked at the man beside her and was met by a scolding look.

"Do I really need to keep reminding you of your position, Dr. Risman?" Stryker asked.

"I'm sorry," she answered quietly.

"Are you now? I believe that I've had to tell you plenty of times, not to interfere with the training."

"I know but…" Dr. Risman looked back to the screen, where the girl still was struggling to get to the other side. "I don't understand why you are pressuring her so hard."

"I want her to reach her full potential."

"She is only five!"

"You need to stop letting your maternal instincts overrule your better judgment, Dr. Risman," Stryker said. "She is not a regular child. She is made to be the ultimate weapon."

"I know. I was the one who manipulated the genetics after your instructions."

Stryker nodded with a smile. "More than twenty failures. Let's hope that this one will actually survive."

"I believe the key is in the DNA from Weapon X," Dr. Risman explained.

"I hope for your sake, that you're right," Stryker said and turned to her. "I had thought that her claws would come sooner."

"She has already got the healing factor and enhanced senses. Having those two alone is very rare for a mutant her age. Even Weapon X didn't have any mutations before he was about ten years old. Her claws will come eventually. We'll just have to be patient."

"I'm aware of that, Doctor. But as I remember, then I asked you to make sure that her powers would come as fast as possible."

"I did what I could. You have to remember that mutations often are triggered by something traumatic or exciting," Dr. Risman said. As she spoke, she suddenly realized: "So that's why you keep giving her more and more difficult tasks."

"Very clever, Doctor," Stryker chuckled. "But that is not the only explanation. I have reasons to believe X-23 has more than just Wolverine's powers."

"Why would you…?" Deborah's heart skipped a beat when she realized what the major was talking about. "You manipulated the genes additionally after I left Alikai Lake, didn't you?!"

"Don't be so surprised, Doctor. You knew that I wanted the weapon as strong as possible."

"But don't you realize that the slightest change in the structure could make her extremely unstable!?" Dr. Risman exclaimed. She held a hand to her chest where she could feel her heart beating fast. She didn't even dare to think about the consequences this could have. How could Stryker even think of such an irresponsible act? They had lost the ingredients to make the chemical that made the mutants controllable.

He gave her a cold look. "Do you take me for a moron, Doctor? Of course, I'm aware of the consequences of my actions and they are the reasons that we have to focus on her training and not cuddle her. She is not a child. She is a weapon!"

Dr. Risman just stared at him. Wondering... Why hadn't he asked her to do it when she had been making the genetic modifications? And what kind of powers could he possibly expect her to have besides the ones she had inherited from Weapon X?

But before she managed to ask any of her questions, the sound of the alarm that meant the X-23 had completed her task sounded.

She was waiting, when the large door opened.

"Stand at attention!" Stryker barked.

X-23 instantly strained her back and pressed her heels together.

"Do you know how long it took you to complete this simple task?"

"N..no," she began.

"Speak up!"

"No, sir!" the girl yelled.

"Well, I know," Stryker said calmly and looked at his wristwatch. "It took you exactly 20 minutes and 43 seconds. Now, do you think that that is a good time?"

"Uh… Yes, sir!"

"Wrong answer!" Stryker growled and pressed a button on his the wristwatch.

X-23 screamed as the collar around her neck, sent a strong static shock through her head and body, paralyzing her.

When Stryker finally decided that she had been punished enough, she collapsed on the floor, crying. "Your time was so bad because you let yourself get distracted. Do not let that happen again. Tomorrow I expect you to do the same task, in half the time, understand?!"

X-23 didn't answer. She just kept crying on the floor from the pain and shock.

Stryker knelt down in front of her and lifted her chin with his index finger, so she looked him into the eyes. "Listen to me," he hissed. "Those tears are not gonna help you, so you might just as well knock off that shit show. If you don't, I'm not gonna double the pain from your little collar. You don't want that now, do you?"

She shook her head fast.

"Then stop it!"

The girl sniffled and rubbed her eyes. She held her breath trying to prevent the small sobs to be heard.

Stryker stood up and turned his back to her. "Bring her to the isolation cell."

The door opened and two men in black walked past him. They grabbed the girl in one arm each and lifted her so her feet didn't touch the ground. They then brought her towards the door.

"Oh, and X-23," Stryker called behind her. The men holding her stopped but didn't turn around so she couldn't see his face, only hear his cold voice: "I'm watching you. If you shed another tear, I'm gonna make the pain ten times stronger."

o*o*o*

They literally threw her into the small, white room and slammed the door behind her, before she could get up. She turned around, but the door was gone. That happened almost every time. Sometimes times she had managed to see them close the door and make it disappear, but most times it would just be gone. A few times she had even tried to look for it, by touching the walls, but she could never find it.

X-23 didn't try to look for it today, though. Instead, she curled herself up in the corner, where she would always end up.

Even though the room was empty, she had panicked the first many times Stryker had sent her in here. She would smack on the walls, scream cry, beg, anything to get out of here. But no one came and she had ended up crying in the corner.

As she sat, here again, the familiar feeling of the walls getting closer, rose. She wanted to close her eyes but she was afraid that the room would crush her if she did. Instead, she began to hum. She didn't understand why, but making that sound, always made her feel safe. Like everything would be okay. She didn't know where she had learned that melody. Dr. Risman would sometimes play music for her but none of the melodies, the machine she brought, was like this one...

She had tried very hard, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it. She didn't have many memories though, and most of them included Stryker or Dr. Risman or a few soldiers. Dr. Risman said that there were other people outside the base. X-23 remembered that Dr. Risman had said that she couldn't go out there yet because she wasn't strong enough and that was why Sir Stryker made her train so much. Many of the people out there were mean and dangerous. When she got older, she would help Sir Stryker fight the evil people.

Dr. Risman had also said that Sir Stryker only was so harsh on her because he cared about her. Somehow X-23 knew that that wasn't true, but she didn't know why… No matter what, she had to do her best, or Stryker would punish her. Sometime he would make her collar hurt her, other times he would beat her until she was bleeding if he was very angry. A few times he had even taken her food away for days.

X-23 kept humming the same melody again and again, as she held her knees close to her chin and leaned against the wall. That was all she could do until Sir Stryker or Dr. Risman made the door come back and let her out. It always took so long time and she would start to think that they had forgotten all about her. That she would be left in here forever.

o*o*o*

Dr. Risman found the key in her pocket for X-23's room.

"I'm not crying!" the girl exclaimed, standing at attention beside her bed.

"I know," Dr. Risman answered as she and closed the door behind her. The girl seemed more relaxed when she realized who it was and sat back down on her bed. Dr. Risman sat down beside her and laid the books on the table beside her. There really wasn't much space in here. The only furniture the girl had, was the bed, the table and a very small closet for her close and linnet. That was all Stryker claimed that she needed.

"Are you ready to learn some more?"

"Yes!" X-23 answered.

"Good." She took one of the books and opened it. X-23 listened carefully as the doctor told her how to pronounce the words and repeated them as well as she could. She seemed so happy when she was taught something new. Something that didn't hurt if you got it wrong or didn't know how to do it.

She had managed to convince Stryker that the girl needed at least some education and he had granted this. She was now allowed to teach X-23 to read, do math and biology (mostly about the body which could come in handy when she would go on missions), as long as the girl didn't get any ideas about what things family, love, and childhood was. They had to make sure that she wouldn't understand what they had taken from her.

They continued reading the story together for about an hour until Dr. Risman had to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said when the smile on the girl's face faded. "Then we'll continue the story, alright?"

The girl nodded. She was such a sweet child… It was always with a heavy heart that Deborah would close and lock the door behind her. She felt so guilty every time. Not only because she would lock the girl up, but because of the whole situation. It was not right what they were doing to her. She was supposed to be with her family, not struggle every day in her life to become a super weapon! Stryker had - after she had made the genetic enhancements of course - made it very clear that she was free to go whenever she wanted. But she had stayed for X-23's sake. She had lost count of how many times she had thought about the parents and how awful this probably was for them, and in the past, she had often wondered why Stryker had wanted to subject them to this kind of pain. He didn't have to impregnate the mutant named Rogue. All they had needed was some of their DNA. After lots of consideration, she had finally asked him why.

"I want to create a weapon, doctor," he had answered. "Not breastfeed or change diapers."

Dr. Risman sighed as she walked down the hall. She had often considered telling Stryker that she was quitting, and then go to the mansion where she knew X-23's parents lived. But that would be pointless. There was no doubt that Stryker would move the girl to a different location, as soon as she had left. No, it was in X-23's best interest that she stayed, no matter how much she despised it. She knew it would only get worse when X-23 got her claws. Hopefully, it would be long before that day would come.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guy's I'm sorry about the long wait. It has been WAY to long, but I hit a pretty big writers block and I haven't have time to work through it since I've had a lot of school work...**  
 **I've finally watch Logan (which broke my heart), and as those of you who has watched it too know, then its very different from this AU.**  
 **I've been planning this story for long and I'm planning on sticking to that plot since its taking place between X2 and Last Stand. However I am gonna include a some of the aspects from the movie. Keep reading and find out which ;)**

* * *

As X-23 grew older and stronger, the training, which Stryker would give her, became more and more challenging, often leaving her bleeding on the floor. But she didn't cry anymore. She knew that Sir Stryker would punish her, besides it wasn't gonna help her, so why even bother? Most times she was knocked down, she would get back up, but in the end of most of the tasks, she would be left unconscious on the floor and wake up in the isolation cell.

No matter how hard she tried, Sir Stryker was never satisfied and she didn't understand why. She was trying her hardest and it still wasn't enough. She kept hearing him muttering something about that her `claws´ still hadn't come. Was she supposed to have claws? She had never heard about a human having claws. Only some of the animals Dr. Risman had taught her about had claws. Was she an animal? She had asked the doctor about this.

"No, sweetie, why would you think that?" Dr. Risman asked and laid the book on the table.

"Because Sir Stryker keeps saying that I need to get my claws to come out!" X-23 answered. "But I thought that only animals had claws."

"Oh…" Dr. Risman seemed like she didn't know what to say. "You are not an animal, X-23. And getting your claws won't change that."

"But does all people have claws?" X-23 wanted to know.

"No," the doctor answered. "But some people are born with special gifts that make them able to survive. We know that your gifts are having strong senses, heal very fast and having claws."

"But how do I get my claws to come out?"

"It's not something you can control, X-23. They will come when they are ready."

"I hope they'll be ready soon then," X-23 had mumbled.

But they didn't. No matter what kind of dangerous task, Stryker would expose her to, her claws didn't come. What was he doing wrong? He kept asking himself that question every time his attempt failed. The girl was fucking 7 years old by now. She was made to be better than Wolverine. He was nothing but a failure. But then again, she was a genetic replication of him, which meant that they would have certain similarities. Hmm… Maybe that opened up for some possibilities? A smirk occurred on the large man's face as the idea took form in his head. This might just work.

o*o*o*

She knew that she was taking a huge risk by doing this, but Deborah simply could not bear to stand by and watch Stryker, abuse the child day in and day out any longer…

She should have done this a long time ago… but she had been scared of the consequences if she was caught… But she had decided that she couldn't be afraid of those anymore. She had to find a way before Stryker managed to fully program the girl to respond to the trigger scent. It had already been released in the trainings room a certain amount of times during the training, and it would only be a matter of time before X-23 would go berserk, every time she smelled it. And when she got her claws… She would become a horribly dangerous weapon.

Deborah knew that copies Stryker had made of cerebro, was keeping Professor Xavier from tracing them, but there had to be a way to open up the barrier and allow their brainwaves to become visible to him, without Stryker or anyone else here would find out!

That was why Dr. Risman was searching through every single file on the computer, to find a single small loophole… but it seemed hopeless.

She had been searching for hours when she came across something that caught her attention. She had never seen these codings before, and somehow she knew that Stryker didn't intend for her to learn about them at all. Her heart skipped a beat when she opened the file… It was a secret project… for the Weapon X program.

Deborah's hand was shaking as she scrolled down to the latest report on the X-24 experiment… Oh dear God… It would be a vessel… a creature without a soul, designed to follow every order it was given. Deborah knew, that this might turn out to be even more successful than X-23, and if that was the case, then that would mean Stryker would… No, she couldn't let him go through with this! She had to find a way to stop this before it was too late! But, how?

First of all, she would have to find the sub lab where the X-24 project was… but that would mean that she would have to find a way get out of here - for the first time in 8 years. She could tell Stryker that she was quitting, but then he would instantly change their location to another place where they couldn't be traced and she wouldn't be able to help X-23 ever again.

Deborah covered her eyes with her hands. Most of all she wanted to grab the girl and run. Get out of here and bring X-23 back to her family where she would be safe. But that was impossible. She would never be able to get the child out of here without anyone stopping her… Stryker would have them both tracked down and killed before they reached the mainland, probably even before they reached the surface…

She was ripped out of her thoughts when a small `ding´ sounded in her pocket. The sound made her blood run cold. Did he know where she was? What she was doing? No, of course not. If Stryker had known, she would have been long dead by now. She took a deep breath before she pulled out her beeper from the white lab-coat. Stryker wanted her in the control room as quickly as possible. How come? It seemed to be very urgent as if something had gone wrong… Had something happened to X-23 during training? No. Once again, she was being ridiculous. Stryker would always have Dr. Risman present during the training. It seemed like the only way to find out what was going on, was see it for herself.

Dr. Risman quickly closed down all the open documents, erasing all tracks of her being here before she turned off the computer. She then rushed down the halls until she reached the control room. Stryker was standing with his hands behind his back, looking at the training room.

"Major Stryker."

"Ah, Dr. Risman," Stryker said and turned around with a large smile. "You're here. Magnificent."

"You asked me to come here, Major," Dr. Risman said. She couldn't tell whether it was the creepy clown-like smile or the plans for project X-24, but she had a feeling, that something was very wrong.

"Yes, I did," Stryker answered and walked closer to her. "As you know, X-23 seems to have some… difficulties, generating her claws, and I have finally figured out why."

Without thinking, Dr. Risman took a step backward. It wasn't until now that she realized that there were at least three soldiers in here with them. "Major Stryker, I assure you: I made the genetic enhancements exactly as you asked."

"Oh, don't you worry, dear doctor. I'm not blaming you. I know that you've done nothing but what I asked of you."

Deborah swallowed. He knew.

"Let me ask you a question, doctor," Stryker said. His voice was so calm. "How did Wolverines mutations get triggered?"

"Wh… His father died… The pain and anger…"

"Exactly!" Stryker cut her off. "His emotions were the trigger. It's funny, isn't it? Most people are clinging to their emotions as if it's the most important thing in the world when it actually is what makes you weak. The only way to survive is shutting them down. I learned that when I lost my wife and son..."

Dr. Risman just kept looking at him, trying to hide the sickness in her stomach. All she could think of was the X-24 project. It wouldn't be controlled by any emotions, but rage and feral ferocity… It wouldn't stop and think of its actions. Only obey its creator's orders. "But… we've worked with X-23's emotions since the beginning… If that isn't working, what will you do with her then?"

"That's what I thought too, Dr. Risman. All these years I've tried to make her scared and angry enough to get to the breaking point… But how can you get to that point, when someone is always telling you, that everything is going to be alright?" He sent her an evil glare. "You've always mothered her as if she was a child. Luckily I know how to change that. And you are going to help me!"

Suddenly two of the soldiers grabbed her arms.

"Let me go! Let me..." She tried to wriggle herself out of their grips, but they were too strong.

"Oh no, Deborah. You nearly destroyed the weapon with your cuddling and you're gonna make up for that mistake."

"I didn't sign up for this!" she yelled.

"No. You signed up for caring for the weapon, and not asking any questions. That would mean; not snooping around or hacking the main computer!"

Deborah gasped. "How do you…?"

"How do I know?" he finished. "Is that really the thing you're most curious about? Don't you wanna know about the X-24 project? Or have you already figured out his purpose?"

"What are you going to do with X-23?" Deborah shouted.

Stryker sighed. "Don't you worry about her, Dr. Risman. If my plans go well she will become the perfect weapon, and in a couple of years, she will be fighting side by side with X-24. Perfect clones take a long time to make, you know." He was not going to let all the time they had put in the X-23 project be wasted. Not yet. "However, if X-23 fails, I'll have no choice but putting her down."

"If you hurt her then…!"

"Oh please, free me for your empty threats," Stryker said. "Furthermore, you should be saving your voice. You're going to need it very soon."

Before Deborah managed to say or try to do anything, she was sprayed in the face with a sedative. She could feel her muscles becoming limp and the only reason she didn't collapse on the ground was the soldiers still holding her. "Stay awake!" she told herself, but the overwhelming tiredness made her eyes blurry. "For X-23's sake… stay awake…"

o*o*o*

X-23 was ready for her next training task, in her room. She had just put on her suit when the door was unlocked behind her and Stryker came in. The girl instantly turned around and stood to attention even though she couldn't help wondering why it was Sir Stryker and not Dr. Risman.

"X-23," Stryker said. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Good," he smiled and walked around her. "Because today I've planned a very special and different kind of training, that should finally make your claws come out."

For a moment of pure excitement, X-23 looked up at the large man, with a smile. "You really think so?"

Stryker sent her a warning glare that made the girl realize her mistake. She winced for a second before she stood to attention again, hoping that he wouldn't press the button that would make her collar hurt her.

"Well, come on," Stryker said and walked towards the door.

X-23 followed him down the halls. Normally when she walked with Dr. Risman, she would be walking beside her, but for some reason, she thought that she should be walking behind Sir Stryker instead. He was the leader after all… She followed him into the training room.

She quickly noticed the many soldiers that were already in here. Why? Normally she would be the only one here, except from when Sir. Stryker and Dr. Risman came in here after training. And where was Dr. Risman?

"You see, X-23, for this specific kind of training, we need you to be tied up," Stryker explained.

X-23 gasped when two of the soldiers grabbed her arms and dragged towards the wall where two chains were hanging. Another soldier locked one chain very tight around her left hand, then the other around the right. X-23 looked at the grey chains. This seemed very weird. She had never tried training like this before.

"X-23," Stryker said firmly, to catch her attention. "Listen very carefully to my instructions, because I will not repeat them. Dr. Risman is going to help you during the training. She will be across the room, and you will have to get to her. The soldiers will try to prevent you from getting to her, and I want you to do anything to get past them. Anything! It is very important that you get over there as fast as possible. Otherwise, Dr. Risman will die."

X-23 gasped. They were really gonna kill Dr. Risman if she didn't do it good enough?

"X-23!" Sir Stryker said loudly, and she realized that he had been saying something more. She instantly looked up to show him that she was listening. "Do you understand what you have to do?"

"Yes, Sir!"

Stryker nodded before he turned around and walked out of the room without another word, leaving X-23 alone with the soldiers. Shortly after, another door, which she had never seen before, opened. Some soldiers brought in a board. X-23's eyes widened when she realized that Dr. Risman was hanging on it! X-23 had never seen her with this little cloth on before. She was only wearing panties and some kind of small, funny top around her chest.

Dr. Risman lifted her head. She looked scared… Suddenly the soldier on her left stabbed her with some kind of stick, that made her whole body shake.

X-23 yelled when the doctor screamed in pain. She tried to run to her, but the chains made her fall back on her butt! X-23 had learned long ago, that if you fell, you would have to get up as quick as you possibly could, or you would get hurt. She grabbed onto one of the chains and pulled it, with all of her strength but it didn't help. She could hear Dr. Risman screaming behind her… She had to stop it. She had to get to her… If she had her claws, she could probably just cut herself free…

X-23 ran back towards the wall, she was shackled to… Four bolts held the chain. She grabbed onto one of them with two of her fingers trying to loosen it, but it was too tight. She turned around, to see the soldier still torturing Dr. Risman with the electric stick. "NO!" X-23 cried. "STOP IT!" But the soldiers just continued their torture.

She turned around, and once again pulled the chains as hard as she could, this time pressing her foot against the wall. Another scream, that almost sounded like crying filled the room.

X-23 suddenly felt a burning pain in her right foot. It wasn't as bad as other times she had felt pain, but she still screamed, as it moved towards her toes. She stared at it, as something suddenly broke through her shoe! It looked like some kind of long bone… but… Dr. Risman had taught her about the bones in your body, and she didn't remember that any of the bones looked like this. Was this… was this her claw?

Another scream reached her ears and moved her focus back to the task. There had to be a way she could use this claw to get free. The claw was long, about the length of her foot. She had always thought that it would be curved like a lion's or something, but instead, it was almost completely straight. It was pointed at the end, but not at all sharp enough to cut through the chains. But what good could it do then? She once again looked at Dr. Risman's, who was crying from the pain.

She was about to start pulling the chains again when she had an idea: to unlock the chains, you would need a key. Maybe if she used the pointed end of her claw? She quickly sat down and thrust the bone into the hole, and started twisting it back and forth. Somehow the claw did the job and her right hand was free. She dumped the chain on the floor and then moved over to the other chain. Yes! She was free! She could save Dr. Risman now!

She got up and ran as fast as she could, across the white floor. She was almost there. She had almost done it! She had got her claw, and she was going to fulfill the task and save Dr. Risman! Her eyes were narrowed to the woman hanging on the board. She looked so exhausted. Her head was hanging, making her blond hair cover her face. X-23 could smell her sweat. "Don't worry, Dr. Risman! I'm coming!"

She was almost there, when a loud piercing noise sounded through the room, almost paralyzing her. She stopped, covering her ears. The next thing she knew was two long lines of soldiers running towards her. The first two grabbed her under each arm dragging her backward. She screamed in anger and frustration. She had been this close! The noise finally stopped, making her able to move again.

She managed to turn her lower body enough to kick the soldier on her right, between the legs, where she knew he would have a weak spot. He yelled out and loosened his grip enough for her to get her arm free. The other soldier had turned around and was about to grab her free arm, but she managed to jump up and smack him on the neck, making his body collapse. She then turned around and kicked the other soldier on the temple, knocking him out. It wasn't before now she realized that she was surrounded. She instantly knew that the training session wouldn't be over before she had fought every single one of them.

Dr. Risman was still screaming in pain. X-23 could see her between two of the soldiers. The soldier pulled back the electric stick and the other soldier now pulled out a knife, and started cutting through her skin, making the blood run from the open wound!

"STOP! STOP IT!" X-23 screamed, running towards the soldiers. She knew that she had to get past them. And they weren't gonna let her come past them, unless she fought them. She had had classes in self-defense, but besides that, she wasn't used to fighting against real people. Normally it would be robots or a machine, which had become more and more difficult, teaching her to fight and defend herself… But that didn't matter. If fighting these men would save Dr. Risman, she would do it!

And she did: in spite of her young age, she had very quickly learned, how and where to hit to hurt the opponent. She was strong. She didn't know, but she was incredibly strong for her age. Just like Striker wanted her to be. A few times where he had been mumbling about her, needing to grow stronger, Dr. Risman had dared to argue, that they were pushing her too hard. "She is just a little girl," she would say during the hopeless search for the last piece of humanity in the man. X-23 could easily take down a full-grown man by now and would only grow stronger as time went by. "No. She is not," Stryker would answer. "You know that. She is becoming the weapon we intended. The weapon you made!"

X-23's main focus was to just complete the task and make them stop hurting Dr. Risman, but every time she had to, she kicked and punched the best she had learned. Suddenly her right foot hit a soldier in the stomach.

X-23 froze when she saw the look in the soldier's blue eyes. They were wide open and filled with… she wasn't sure… Shock? Pain? His mouth was halfway open, and blood started to drip from it… That meant that he had internal bleedings… X-23's moved her eyes from his, and down to her foot, where her claw was sticking deep inside his stomach. A gasp escaped her throat. He was going to die… because of her… "I…" she began, as the soldier collapsed in front of her. She stared at the dead soldier, before her.

She jumped backward, dragging the bloody claw out of his stomach.

It wasn't before now that she realized that the other soldiers had stopped attacking her and just stood there staring at her... as if she was dangerous. The two soldiers had stopped the torturing too. Even Dr. Risman was staring at her. X-23 met her eyes. They seemed so… sad?

 _"I didn't tell you to stop the training!"_ Stryker's voice sounded over the speaker.

It took less than a second before the soldiers reacted and ran towards her.

"No!" she screamed. "I don't want to!"

But none of them listened. It seemed like they were trying even harder than before. They were attacking her with anger, because of what she had done. X-23 tried to defend herself, but she feared that her claws would kill more of them.

She ended up curling up on the floor, while they kept kicking and hitting her. She didn't hit back. She didn't want to. She just wanted this to end. She started humming the melody, which she never had found out where came from, and she didn't care about that either, right now. She just wanted it to take her to a place that was safe… Her collar was sending electricity through her body, and she could feel it getting stronger. He wanted her to fight… She didn't want to fight…

Suddenly a scream, more heart-rending than ever, filled the room. X-23 looked up and saw the soldier slowly stabbing the knife through Dr. Risman's stomach, under her ribs.

"NOOO!" It sounded more like a bestial roar than an actual yell. A pain, similar to the one she had felt in her foot, was manifesting in her both of her hands and her other foot. Still screaming, she hit the nearest leg, making blood spill all over the floor! She got to her feet, no longer caring if she hurt anyone. She let her claws dig through everyone that got in her way, ignoring their screams, which almost made themselves heard above her own.

In the end, there was no one left to stand in her way, allowing her to finally cross the floor. "Dr. Risman!" she called out.

The two remaining soldiers instantly stepped back, and the chains that were holding the doctor's wrists and ankles opened up, making her glide down the board and collapse on the floor.

X-23 fell to her knees in front of the wounded woman as soon as she was close enough. "No…" she whimpered.

"X-23…" Dr. Risman whispered. She weakly took the girl's wrist, not touching the red claws. "Listen to me…"

X-23 just nodded.

"Promise me… that you will escape…"

"Escape…?"

"You have to… Stryker… is evil… you can't trust him…"

"But…"

"Listen to me…" Her voice was so weak, that only X-23's ears could hear her. "You have to pretend… make him think… that you trust him… do as he says until… you get the chance… to run… run far away… run… to West Chester… Xavier's school for gifted youngsters… Find… Wolverine… he… will protect you…" Her grip on the girl's wrist loosened and her eyes became distant.

"No…" X-23 whispered. "No. No! No, please! Please, don't leave me…!"

Suddenly a door opened and Striker stepped in. "Sir Stryker!" she cried. "Help! Please!"

He slowly walked towards them with his hands on his back. "It is too late, X-23," he said. "She is gone."

"No… No, she can't be!"

"But she is," Stryker said, kneeling down in front of her. "All because of you."

"Wh...What?"

"If you had been able to complete your task as you were supposed to, Dr. Risman would still be alive."

"But…" X-23 began. "I didn't want to hurt the others…"

"And that is your problem. You need to understand that sometimes you have to do things you don't want to, to protect what you care about. No matter what it makes you feel. You couldn't do that, and your failure killed Dr. Risman and nothing will bring her back. Especially not these tears."

X-23 quickly rubbed her eyes with her palms. She then looked back at Dr. Risman. Was she really dead because of her? Had she really killed her?

"It hurts to know, doesn't it?" Stryker asked. "Unless you want to feel this again, you have to pull yourself together and work harder. Are you willing to do that?"

X-23 hesitated. Dr. Risman had told her not to trust Stryker. That he was a bad man… But wasn't she bad too? She had killed so many people… But he wanted her to do that… She had always thought that killing was a bad thing…

"X-23!" Stryker said firmly. "Are you willing to do what it takes?"

"Y..yes, sir," she answered. For some reason, it felt like it would be best to say yes.

"Good," Stryker said. He held a hand out towards her. "Now; let me see them."

She reached her hands towards him and he grabbed her by the wrist.

It wasn't before now that she herself actually took a look at the two claws sticking out between her knuckles. They looked like the one her foot. He looked at the claws, letting his fingers run across them.

"Incredible," he mumbled. That was a good thing right? Stryker's fingers grabbed around one of the claws and began to bend it.

X-23 screamed when the force finally made the bone break.

"As I expected," Stryker mumbled sounding much more disappointed, tossing the bone on the floor. "But don't worry. We can fix that." He got up and started to walk away. "I expect you to have figured out how to retract them before training tomorrow."

Two new soldiers came in. "Come on. Back to your room."

Before they walked out the door, X-23 glanced back at Dr. Risman one last time. _"I promise,"_ she thought.

* * *

 **Wauw this chapter got way longer than I planned... :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Despite how much it made her heart ache, she couldn't help it. The sight almost made her feel like she was right here, in her lap, smiling up at her.

The image of the 3 years old little girl, laughing while she was sitting on Logan's shoulders, made the tears run down her cheeks and past the smile until they fell from her face and down on the page beside the picture.

It had become a bad habit for her to sit like this, but it was all she could do when the real world became too painful. When they would return empty-handed from another search and everyone would try to comfort her, she would go to their bedroom, while Logan went to get hisaggression out in the danger room. She would find the book filled with happy memories, and make them comfort her. Let them take her back in time to where everything was so amazing. To the time she would hold her daughter in her arms.

Another tear fell from her eye and she turned the page. About 15 years ago where her skin had come to life, she had given up all hope of becoming a mother. She couldn't touch anyone without hurting them, which had made it impossible for her to get pregnant. At least she had thought so… But now she had carried her daughter inside her for nine months, gone through hours of pain, until she had given birth. She could remember the happiness in her heart when she had gotten her child into her arms.

She had never thought that she would experience the pain of your child being ripped out of your arms. The pain of losing a child! At times, she wondered if her mother had felt like this, when she had run away from home, so many years ago?

The door opened and Logan walked in. He instantly noticed the photo album in Marie's lap and her tears. Oh no, he knew what this did to her...

"I thought you were training," she said, moving her eyes to him.

"I didn't really feel like it tonight." He closed the door and sat down beside her.

She leaned up against him. "Remember this?" she asked and pointed at a picture from Laura's four years old birthday, where she was eating a large piece of chocolate cake, crumbs and whipped cream all over her face.

"Yeah," Logan said quietly. "You didn't believe that she could eat that much."

"But she ate two large pieces anyway," Marie laughed. "She loved chocolate so much that she didn't care if she would have a stomach ache."

"She could handle it. She is much stronger than she looks," Logan said.

Marie turned the page and felt her heart sink. This would usually be the point where she would break down, in anger and sadness. When she saw the blank pages, that should have been filled with even more wonderful memories…

"She will turn 11 tomorrow," she whispered. She let her hand run down the page, as her body started to shake.

"I know." Logan gently took the book from her hands and placed it on the floor.

"She was supposed to be here. We were supposed to celebrate her, give her toys and the biggest cake she could eat. She was supposed to be with us!"

Logan pulled her closer.

"Why can't we find her, Logan?" she cried. They had been searching for her, every day for almost seven years. Long ago, they had sought all the places, on the list. Of course, Laura wasn't there. They should have known that!

"We will find her, Marie," Logan said.

The others said the same every day, but Logan was the only one who still sounded like he actually believed it. She wanted to believe it too. She had to believe it! For Laura's sake… She had to be strong for her daughter... Her breathing changed into sobs, tears making wet spots on Logan's t-shirt.

He couldn't stand seeing her like this. He hated the pain inside both of them and the fact that there was nothing he could do to change it. All of his powers were useless in this.

He cupped her face between his hands, making her tearful eyes look into his. She was still sobbing, when he did the only thing he could think of, to make her stop: he leaned in, catching the next tear with his lips as it dropped past her eyelashes before it fell from her cheek. He then moved to the other cheek, repeating the process. He kept doing this until her face was dry and their foreheads pressed together.

Marie let her hand run up and caress his back, leaning even closer to him. He leaned back on the mattress, kissing her, running his hands through her hair… This was the only time, they were able to somehow take each other's pain away. The moments filled with passion, kisses, hugs, and love, almost made them able forget… But never completely.

The loss of their child would only be hiding in the back of their heads, until the moments of making love were over and they would lay in each other's arms, feeling the pain wash back over them.

Usually, Logan was better at holding back the tears, but to Marie, he would open up. He would let her see his pain through the tears.

The thought of having another child had crossed their minds more than once through the years. A child that wouldn't be genetically modified. A child that wouldn't be the target of a maniac soldier… But both of them knew that it wouldn't be enough to take away the pain. Even though they would love the child as much as they loved Laura, it would never be able to replace her.

o*o*o*

As soon as the button was pressed and the alarm filled the room, his heart started beating in his chest. The beat got stronger, waking his nerves from the numb sleep, allowing him to feel the cold surrounding him and was filling his body. The cold was replaced by a burning sensation, that made its way through his cells, as the ice melted around him.

He struggled to open his eyes, clenched his fists, but he couldn't. He had to wait. Hell no, he did want to wait, he wanted out now!

A slight pain manifested in the tip of his fingers and the hard substance around his fingers gave in, finally allowing him to clench his fists. Another pain manifested this time in his palms, but he didn't care about that. Only about what it meant! He unclenched his fists again and started moving his hands around, scratching the barrier that had him locked down, making it crumble.

The ice was melting, allowing him to move the rest of his body. It was still too slow and he was getting wet!

Finally, the ice got weak enough for him, to challenge all of his energy into his upper body, sitting up with a loud hiss and his hands ready, to scare away - or even better; kill - whoever thought that they could do something to him when he woke up. But the room was empty.

Hmm… Someone had, without doubt, brought him here. Well, he would probably find out soon enough anyway.

He looked at his hands, looked at the long, bone-like claws that were sitting on his fingertips instead of nails. It reminded him of claws of a large cat, or even better; a tiger. He chuckled to himself. This sure would come in handy.

His eyes moved down to his wrists, where a blue and red wire were running. Not caring what their purpose was, he ripped the blue one out, blood and pain following, for a few moments, before the hole disappeared, and only the blood running down his sleeve let you know that it had been there in the first place. A smile occurred on his lips as he removed the red one, with the exact same result. Neat.

He looked down to his legs, which were still covered in the melting ice. He lifted his left leg, making the ice shatter around it, pieces falling to the floor. He removed the remaining wires and jumped off the table, looking for the nearest exit, when he noticed a large window. In the middle of the frame, stood an old, rather fat man. What the hell was this?

The man leaned forward and spoke into what looked like a microphone: _"Good morning, Victor. I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"_

Instead of answering, a growl filled the small white room. Well, at least he knew whom to kill first.

 _"Ah, grumpy in the morning, I see,"_ the man said.

"Well, waking up from being frozen down usually ruins my good mood."

 _"Oh, is that something you remember?"_

"The hell is that suppose to mean?"

 _"You don't remember anything, do you?"_

Another growl. But now that he thought about it, the man was right. He didn't remember shit! "Listen, either you let me out of here or I'll find a way myself."

"And I suppose you would actually like if I chose number 2, wouldn't you?"

Yes. Victor chuckled. "You really think you know everything, huh?"

 _"I know more than you: I know how you got here. I know who you are. And I know how you can get back your memories."_

"Oh really?" Victor snorted, staring at the old man. He considered if he should just break through the glass and slide the man's throat. Then he would at least stop talking.

 _"Yes."_

Who the hell was this idiot? He was just standing there, almost like a moron who was visiting the zoo. It was all fun and games to look at the encased animals. Everyone happened to forget that if you encase a beast, the beast gets angry. Well, this guy would learn it soon enough.

 _"I also know that you don't care about any of that,"_ the fat bastard continued.

"Oh, I bet you know exactly what I want, don't you?" he asked crossing his arms.

 _"I do in fact."_

"Well, go ahead then; tell me what I so deeply desire," Victor answered with a smirk, revealing his fangs.

The smirk on the fat man's lips, got even wider as he leaned closer to the microphone. _"Power. You want to be stronger than anyone who tries to get in your way."_

The smirk faded from his face, but his lips still showed the sharp fangs. The dark eyes studied the man, who just stood there, as if he owned the damn place. Who the hell was this guy?

"Alright, I think we're done talking about me. How about that you tell me who the hell you think you are, before I spread your guts on the floor?" To some people, it might seem like the man had hit a soft spot, but that was not the reason for Victor to become defensive. The man's claim was right though. He actually knew something about him and that pissed him off. It made him feel exposed almost vulnerable. "Who the hell are you?"

The man chuckled with a sparkle in the eye. _"My name is William Stryker. I'm the man who can give you what you want."_

"Really?"

 _"Yes. You see: years ago I managed to create something I call adamantium. A new sort of metal, that is indestructible, when it hardens. A sort of metal that could make you ten times stronger than you already are. Make you indestructible."_

The dark eyes studied the man, while he listened to his heartbeat. It sounded normal through the whole thing. Hm. As the old man had said, he would love to get stronger. "I don't suppose that you're giving it away for free?" Victor asked. He didn't trust the old guy for as much as a moment. But that didn't mean that he couldn't find some way to steal this adamantium from him.

 _"You are right. I do want something in return."_

"And you think I can give you that?"

 _"Yes."_ Stryker smiled satisfied. _"You can indeed."_

o*o*o*

The couple rushed through the hall as fast as they could. Everyone the came past instantly got out of the way, as the Wolverine ran past them, holding his wife's hand in his.

"Professor!" Rogue said rather out of breath when they opened the door to his office.

"Good morning, Rogue, Logan," he greeted rolling up in front of his desk.

"Did you find her?" Rogue's voice was filled with hope, even though she had learned years ago, that she shouldn't get too excited. She would just end up getting disappointed.

"I'm afraid not, my dear," the Professor answered, making both of their hearts sink.

"Then why the hell did you call us up here?" Logan growled. It was barely past 8 o'clock in the morning. They had just gotten out of bed and were getting dressed when the Professor had contacted them and asked them to come to his office.

"Because I found someone who might be able to help us."


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, before you read this chapter, want you to know that I've reread the whole fic, and I would like to apologize for the larges amount of misspellings and grammar errors in the previous chapters. Hopefully, I'll do better in the future... I've tried to correct most of them but I've most likely overlooked some...**

* * *

"Are you sure that this is the right place?" Rogue asked.

"Yes, Rogue," the Professor answered. "This is where he currently lives. Don't worry, we should be there soon."

Rogue sighed. What a ridiculous question. Of course, the Professor had taken them to the right place, even though she found it hard to believe that there would be someone that could help them, here. However, she decided to keep her doubts to herself (as much as you can, when you're walking behind a telepath), and just follow the Professor down the street.

According to the Professor, they were looking for a mutant with the powers to track other mutants. Apparently, his business had let him into trouble with some really bad people and since his bodyguard had turned her back on him, he had now gone underground, where he hadn't been found before the Professor had contacted him.

Logan gave her hand a squeeze. It was no wonder that the street they walked down was giving her the creeps. It reeked of booze, piss and puke, many of the buildings they came past, were dark with broken windows, and the few that were still running seemed to only sell alcohol, sex or both. It didn't make it better, that it was in the middle of the fucking night, and only a few street lamps were lighting up the place a bit.

"Hey, petite!" someone called out, behind them. They heard boots walking fast up the street, until some guy in a long coat, with grey and brown hair, was walking beside Rogue. "Well hello there! What's a girl like you, doing in a place like this, eh?"

Rogue rolled her eyes. That was like one of the oldest pickup lines in the book. "Go away, I'm not interested," she answered, not even looking at him.

Logan, however, sent the guy a warning look, telling him to piss off, but he didn't seem to notice that at all.

"Oh come on, Cherie," the man continued. "I can make your world explode." He was about to take her hand when another hand grabbed his wrist, and he was lifted from the ground by the collar of his coat.

"You heard her, pal," the Wolverine growled, all teeth bared. "Back the fuck off!"

The Cajun gasped and reached his hand up under his jacket behind his back as if he wanted to pull out a gun or something. "Easy, big guy," he said calmly. "I'm just trying to be a little friendly, no."

"Logan," Marie tried, but he ignored her. This guy had made a huge mistake: he had tried to enter the Wolverines territory. He was hitting on the Wolverine's mate, trying to cajole her to come with him, to take her away from him! Well, the Wolverine was not gonna let that happen. He would do anything to protect his pack, to protect his family… even though he had already failed at that...

"Yeah?" Logan growled. "Look, you've got five seconds to get out of here before I show you how 'friendly' I can be, got it, bub?" He let go of the red-eyed man, who rubbed his neck. "One," Logan began. "Two."

The red eyes narrowed. "Say, don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Three," Logan growled.

A smile occurred on the man's face. "Yeah, I know you..."

"Listen, I've almost reached five, so I suggest you start running now." A part of him wanted to cut the guy right here and now, but he knew that Marie wouldn't want him to do that, not to mention that the Professor probably would stop him before he got the chance to let his claws out. That, however, didn't mean that he couldn't scare the idiot, letting him know who the alpha was, and what would happen if you crossed the line!

The older man shrugged. "Eh, you ain't worth the trouble." He turned around. "But, you should know, Cherie: you're playing with fire."

"Are you ready to continue, Logan?" the Professor asked.

Logan reached for Marie's hand, but she pulled away, not looking at him. The old creep had only been flirting a bit. She could easily have fought him off, even drained him, if necessary, instead of wasting their time like that, threatening a nonentity.

Then again, the man had seemed to recognize Logan. Had Logan recognized him too, and known that he was a danger? "Who was he?" she asked.

"Someone I once knew," Logan answered. "I met him shortly before I lost my memory. He was the one, who took me to the Island."

"What?" She looked back after the man, but he had vanished into thin air. For a moment, she considered running after him. Because maybe... just maybe, he could tell them something… Maybe he knew something about where Stryker was hiding their daughter?

No, a voice inside her head said and she knew that it was right. The guy had only been able to bring Logan there because he had escaped from the Island himself a few years earlier. There was no way that he would know where Stryker was keeping Laura.

They kept walking in silence until The Professor let them down an alley to the right. At first, it seemed like there was nothing here, except broken bottles and some empty boxes, and it seemed to match the street pretty well, but as they moved to the end of the alley, they found a door.

The Professor gave Logan sign to knock. Logan did so and was surprised that the wood didn't give in to his metal fist. The door opened slowly with a creak, making Marie think of a horror movie she had seen when she was a child. The couple followed the Professor into the darkness of the room.

Marie decided to take Logan's hand, not because the darkness made her uncomfortable, but simply because she couldn't see shit, while Logan's power made him able to see everything. She regretted not taking his powers before they had left, but the Professor had assured her, that it wouldn't be necessary. They heard the door closing behind them and something, or rather someone, moved around.

"Professor," a voice said. It came from in front of them. "Welcome to my humble home. I'm sorry for the darkness. I'm not used to guests."

Logan looked around. "You call this a home?"

"Logan," Rogue hissed. Her eyes still weren't used to the darkness, but it must be something coming from a guy who spent fifteen years on the road, where the 'cozy' truck had been one of his more fancy homes.

"Hello, Caliban," Xavier said. "This is Logan and Rogue. The couple…"

"The couple, who needs Caliban's help? Who wants to use Caliban's powers?" Caliban cut him off. "It is funny how you made it sound so urgent when you contacted me, and yet you haven't told me who you want me to find."

Both, Logan and Rogue, turned the gaze towards the Professor. "What the fuck, Charles?" Logan growled.

"I thought that it would be better, if they explained it, themselves," the Professor simply answered.

"Of course," Caliban said with a bitter voice. "You're trying to plead to Caliban's conscious, so Caliban'll agree to help you. And while we're searching, you expect Caliban to feel welcome among your other mutants." His voice got darker. "Making me feel like I'm a part of your little charade, and when it's over, you're hoping that I want to stay. That I want to join you. Sorry, but the answer is no, Professor. I prefer to stay on my own."

"Caliban, if you would please, listen…"

"No, Xavier. Caliban knows what you're about. A psychic who knows everything," Caliban hissed. "But you also know what Caliban is. You can promise me safety, you can promise me happiness, everything I ever wanted or didn't know I wanted… But you can't keep your promises. Maybe for a while, years even. But nothing lasts forever."

"Please. Listen to what we have to say," Rogue said. "Our daughter, Laura, was taken from us seven years ago. We've tried everything, looked everywhere, but we can't find her…"

"No," Caliban said. "I'm done. I decided years ago, that I won't track any more mutants. It only leads to trouble. I'm not taking any risks, just because you two didn't keep an eye on your child."

Caliban had barely finished the hurtful sentence, before he was slammed against the wall, with three claws pointing at his blue eyes. No one should dare to talk to his mate, his wife like that! He knew how much she had blamed herself the last years, in spite the fact that she had done everything in her power to protect their child!

"Logan!" the Professor said firmly, but it had no effect on the Wolverine.

Rogue instantly crossed the floor, laying a hand on the growling man's shoulder. "Logan, please. Listen to me; Cutting him won't help us. It won't help us find Laura."

The Wolverine looked back at the white-skinned man and growled. He then let go of the collar, and Caliban fell to the ground coughing.

Marie sat down on her knees in front of him, while he was still catching his breath. He looked up, meeting her eyes. "You probably won't believe this, but I know how you feel. Years ago, when I discovered my powers, and my parents started to see me as nothing but a monster, I ran away from home. I was alone for eight months, thinking that it was for the best, that I was better off, on my own. I didn't hurt anyone that way, and that was the way I wanted it to be… But the loneliness… It was almost too much. The worst part about it, was when I learned that someone wanted to use those powers, my powers for his own purpose, and sacrificing me in the process." Marie took a deep breath, looking down for a moment before she renewed the eye contact. "Three years later someone else, discovered my powers, and he too decided to use me, for an experiment… I thought that I managed to escape, before he did, whatever he had to do, to me… But I was wrong… The experiment was growing inside me. I was pregnant. At first, I didn't know what to do, I had no idea how to handle something like that, but after some time, I decided to keep it. I gave birth to my daughter, the sweetest, happiest little girl I ever had seen. I loved her more than I've ever loved anything else." She smiled, thinking of Laura, but tears also filled her eyes. "But when she was four… he came back and took her from me. Took her from us. So he could use her, as the weapon he always dreamed of… But she is not a weapon, she is a child. A little girl, who's out there somewhere, waiting for us to come for her, wondering, why we haven't saved her yet."

A sob escaped her throat and she bowed her head, holding a hand over her mouth, trying to get her breath under control. No one said anything. Logan took a step closer, but the Professor grabbed his wrist, shaking his head.

Caliban stared at the broken woman in front of him. He had learned long ago, not to believe whatever people would tell him, to convince him to 'help' them. But there was something in this woman's voice, that told him, that she wasn't lying.

"Please," Marie said. "You're the only one who can help us find her… We're not trying to manipulate you or use you… I'm begging you…"

Caliban didn't say anything. He managed to get to his feet, without taking his eyes from her as she was still crying. He sighed and reached a hand out to the mother.

o*o*o*

X-23 was standing ready in the training room, waiting for the task to begin. She wondered what it would be today. Would she have to avoid the lasers shooting down from the ceiling? Would she be fighting robots? Or would she be fighting against real people? Have to watch their blood and guts spill on the floor? Hear their screams in pain, before she killed them?

 _"Good morning, X-23,"_ Stryker's voice sounded over the speaker. _"I've got a new sparring partner for you."_

'Sparring partner'? What the hell was a Sparring partner? Whatever it was, she knew that she would either have to kill it or destroy it.

A door opened in the wall on the other side of the room, and a large man stepped out. He didn't look like any of the soldiers or sir Stryker… His eyes were all black, and it looked like he had fangs… almost like a tiger or lion… and his smell… It was so different, from anyone else.

 _"Allow me to introduce you to Sabretooth. The two of you will be training together from now on."_

Sabretooth stared at the girl before him. Seriously? He was supposed to fight that? This skinny little thing was a weapon? This had got to be some kind of joke, right? He didn't know how old the child was, but he would guess somewhere between 9 and 12. Whatever. If Stryker would give him the adamantium in exchange, and spare him the trouble of stealing it, he would happily 'train' with her. That she would end up dead in the end, wasn't his problem. Maybe he would have some fun, making her think that she had a chance, and then he would show him exactly what she was up against. He would chase her a little around. Play with her, like a cat after a mouse.

 _"Begin!"_

Sabretooth began to run towards the girl on all four. The girl ran towards him too. This was gonna be easy. He was about to tackle her when she jumped up, and landed on his back! What the Hell?!

He instantly got back on his feet, making his claws cut through the air. She dodged it, jumping several feet backward.

Sabretooth smiled. "So you wanna play, girl?" he purred. "Then let's play."

X-23 didn't say anything.

He lifted his hand signing for her to come at him, with his index finger.

X-23 froze at the sight. His finger… The nail was long, and hooked… It was like a… a claw! This man… Sabretooth… he had claws! Did that mean… was he one of the people with special gifts? Was he like her?

Meanwhile, Sabretooth had lost his patience, and decided that if she wasn't gonna make a move, he would for sure! It wasn't before he was running towards her, that X-23 woke up from her staring, sending her back into the fight. Once again, they ran towards each other. She hit Sabertooth the moment he was within her reach, with a scream, cutting two red lines across his face, blood splashing out onto the floor.

The anger filled her opponent, who instantly dug his claws into her shoulder, with a groan, making her scream. She was about to stab him in the heart, when his foot hit her in the stomach, sending her across the floor, landing on her back. She instantly jumped back to her feet, now letting out the claws on her other hand.

"Uuh, shiny," he said when he saw the metal coming out between the girl's fingers. This had got to be some of the adamantium, Stryker had promised him! To have that on his claws would make him invincible! But the sight seemed familiar... He growled at the feeling of deja vu, inside him. How? Had he known someone with the kind of weapon before? He wanted to ignore the thought, but for some reason, it made him feel a bit... sad? But also angry! Whoever he had known, hadn't been his friend. Well, whoever it was, he couldn't take his anger out on the person right now - he would have to do that when he got out of here - but he sure could take it out on the girl!

However, the few seconds he had frozen, was enough for X-23 to get behind him, jump up and land on his back! Sabretooth turned around with a growl when he sensed her above him and she landed, on him, pressing her foot-claws in between his ribs, while she repeatedly stabbed her claws into his shoulders, chest and neck, screaming, in unison with Sabretooth.

The claws tore up the fabric of his black shirt, revealing his stabbing wounds, where the blood was running from. She worked her way to his back, her foot-claws holding herself onto him while she kept stabbing and cutting into his flesh. She had hit and punctured his lungs several times by now and given him countless internal bleeding, but aside from his yells in pain, he didn't seem to be affected at all! He should be fighting for his breath and even choke on his blood, but he wasn't!

He had had about enough of this brat! The cat was done playing. He was going straight for the kill now! He reached behind his head, reaching for hers. His claws only scratched her scalp, as they were entangled in her brown hair. It only made her scream even louder, hurting his ears when he pulled it. Damn it!

He changed tactic, and threw himself against the nearest wall, crushing her again and again, but the kid just wouldn't give in! At last, he threw himself down on the floor, finally getting the girl to let go.

Both of them got to their feet, now with a distance between them, both trying to catch their breath, giving each other a deathly glare. Sabretooth's upper body was covered in blood, but X-23's eyes widened when she realized that the wounds behind the red layer, was healing. As if they had never been there… Just like when she got wounded, no matter where she had them.

o*o*o*

Back in the control room, Stryker was smiling as he watched the two mutants fighting the never-ending fight.

The door opened, and the man in his white lab-coat stepped in. "Major Stryker. I wanted to bring you the latest reports, personally." He handed over the folder.

Letting his eyes run down the pages his smile grew even wider.

The scientist turned and looked at the mutants. The daughter and brother, of the mutant who had killed his father nearly thirty years ago.

Stryker noticed the look. "Don't worry, Dr. Rice. I promised that you will get your revenge, and you will. Just be patient."

* * *

 **Wow, guys, it has almost been a year since I began this fanfic!**


	14. Chapter 14

The alarm sounded and the fight began. Her claws dug into his arm, and he responded by hitting her in the face.

When Stryker had told him, that he was going to be sparring against a creature created to be a weapon, Victor didn't expect that it would be nothing but a fucking kid… However, this fucking kid had turned out to be more than what meets the eye. At first sight, she looked like nothing but a skinny, defenseless little girl. Victor's senses had instantly told him, that she was a mutant, though. It was something about her smell. Somehow it was different, from the rest of the people here.

Everyone else here reeked of weakness, so it was no wonder they needed someone stronger, someone the girl wouldn't kill in the blink of an eye. Victor still didn't know why Stryker wanted her to be stronger, though. Was there some war going on outside these walls? Well, he wouldn't really give a shit if there was. As soon as he was done here and had gotten the adamantium, he was promised, a measly war wouldn't be a problem for him. Hell, maybe he would even join it? Not to fight on one of the sides, but just kill some time. See how much stronger the adamantium actually made him. Oh yeah to feel their blood run in his hands, to see the fear in their eyes when they realized that their weapons couldn't stop him! He could see them before him right now, shaking, shooting with everything they'd got, smell them pissing their pants, hear their hearts racing. He could feel the adrenaline pumping just by the thought of it.

He was so caught up in his fantasy, that he hadn't noticed X-23 making her next move before it was too late: She grabbed him by the shoulders and swung him around, screaming out her usual shrill roar, until he hit the ground!

Victor managed to kick her off from him, allowing himself to get back on his feet. They started circling each other, like a couple of animals, growling and baring their teeth. Victor was the first to make the move, making them run towards each other scratching and biting like there was no tomorrow.

She was good. He had to admit that, even though he didn't like to do so. But goddammit, she was annoying! Every time she made that stupid scream, he wanted to rip off his own ears! In the beginning, he had been fine with it, when it was from the pain he inflicted on her. It had made him feel powerful, even though he was fighting a child. But in the long run, it had started to bug him, since he couldn't make any permanent damage.

He didn't know how many times he had thought about ripping her head off and see if that would be enough to take her down, but the damn girl was too fast, and never let him anywhere near her neck, long enough for him to do any damage. No, she was definitely not that stupid.

In fact, she was pretty smart and an annoyingly quick learner. An example of this would be when Victor had lifted his left arm up in the air, to make it seem like he was going for her head. That had only been a distraction, while he had kicked her legs. However, the girl didn't fall for that trick twice: the second time he had tried to fool her like that, the blade in her foot had been ready for him. Just like that, she would pick up on his techniques, sometimes even try to copy them, if it would be an advantage for her.

The alarm sounded through the room again, and both of them knew that the training for the day was over.

X-23 withdrew her claws and let the soldiers lead her out of the room, almost like a trained puppy. She looked like one too with that silly collar around her neck. Victor, on the other hand, had made it clear that he didn't need any soldiers to babysit him. Instead, he walked out the door that had opened behind him, and back to the little room where he slept, ate and jerked off. It was very small, and only contained a dirty bed and a closet for his clothes. There wasn't even a window, but Victor didn't really care about that sort of luxury.

He didn't bother to turn on the light, before he threw himself on top of the bunk bed, moving around until he decided to lay on his back, hands between his pillow and back of his head, staring up at the cement ceiling.

He reached his left hand down, under the bed, and soon found the white baseball. He threw it up in the air above his face and caught it again before it hit him. He repeated that, throwing it higher and higher, until it hit the ceiling with a thud. It fell back down in his palm, just as the door was unlocked. Victor paused in his little game, and lifted his head, to see Stryker step him.

"Good evening, Victor. Would you mind if I turned on the light?"

Victor didn't respond. Instead, he laid back down and threw the ball up in the air again. Stryker clicked the switch, and the light bulb hanging from the ceiling started blinking until the light filled the room.

Stryker walked up beside the bed. "I would like to speak to you."

"Yeah? Well, talk," Victor grunted, still focused on the ball.

"How is the training with X-23 going?

"Victor caught the ball but didn't throw it again. He turned his head, giving Stryker a cocky smile. "You tell me. You're always watching it yourself, aren't you?"

Stryker made a small chuckle. "Oh, so you figured that out."

"Yeah. So tell me, major. How is the training going?"

"Well, I'll say it's going well. I've seen a very good progress."

Victor didn't say anything but he agreed. He could tell, that the girl had gotten stronger over the short amount of time he had been training with her.

"You've been doing a good job with her."

"Well, what can I say?" Victor smiled. "I'm the best there is at what I do..." He stopped in the middle of the sentence. He didn't know why he had said that, but it somehow felt familiar. However, he knew now, that it wasn't something he used to say.

Stryker raised an eyebrow at him, but Victor instantly decided that he didn't feel like sharing what he felt. Whatever it was.

"So I guess that means that my work is done?"

"No, not yet," Stryker answered firmly.

Victor sat up. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he growled. "The deal was that I would sparre with the kid. I sparred with her and she has gotten stronger like you wanted, so I suggest that you keep your part too."

"And I will," Stryker said. "But your work is not done yet."

"It's not?" Victor growled. He was starting to lose his patience with this man. He had been cooped up in this place for God knows how long, and he wanted to get out, very soon. "Gotta tell you major, I'm starting to get bored from this. She had practically already learned all I can."

"Bored is it? Don't worry, Victor. I think that that will change tomorrow."

"Really? How so?" Would he finally give him the adamantium?

"You'll see," Stryker said. He turned around to leave the room. Victor had had about enough of Stryker's games. He stood up, following the man, but just as he was about to grab Stryker's shoulder, he felt an electric shock in the back of his skull. It paralyzed him and made him collapse on the floor.

Stryker turned around with a smile. "Oh no, no, don't you think that you can pull that shit around here, Mr. Creed."

Victor wanted to rip Stryker's tongue out, but he couldn't move. Stryker turned around again and left the room, turning off the light on his way out. When the door was closed and locked, the electric shock that had been running through his body, finally let go, allowing him to move again.

"Come back here, you piece of shit!" He instantly ran towards the door, hammering his fists against the metal, but it was no good. Neither were his claws, which only left a few scratches on the surface. That son of a bitch! Victor roared out in pure anger, as the realization washed over him: Stryker was never gonna give him the adamantium. He had never planned on holding his part of the deal. It had been a trap, and Victor had jumped right into it. Stryker was probably gonna use him, just like was gonna use the girl, as his personal puppet.

Victor turned away from the door, dark eyes scanning the room for something else to challenge his rage into his bed.

He jumped on top of it, claws tearing through the madness, ripping the sheets. Foam rubber was flying up around him, like Stryker's blood and guts would do, as soon as Victor saw him again. He didn't care how many soldiers came between them. He would kill all of them if necessary. It would be like nothing but a warm-up to him before he started the real torture. He would make Stryker beg for mercy, and then he would force him to give him the adamantium! Yeah, Stryker would definitely regret the day he had decided to take advantage of the Sabertooth!

o*o*o*

Rogue tied her hair in a tight bun and sighed. She leaned over the sink, supporting herself by holding onto the border. A pair of brown eyes stared back at her, with large dark circles underneath, that revealed how little sleep she had gotten over the last years.

She actually couldn't remember when she had slept a whole night, without staring at the ceiling for hours, thinking about her little girl, or waking up screaming from a nightmare about what Stryker would be doing to her.

Last night she dreamt that she could see Laura, standing in front of Stryker. Rogue herself had been standing very far away from them, but she could still see, Stryker, lifting his hand towards the toddler.

"Laura run!" Rogue had exclaimed. She started running towards them herself, but it was like she didn't get any closer to them. She had seen black strings, shoot from Stryker's fingers, wrapping themselves around Laura's ankles, wrists and neck.

"Mommy!" the little girl had cried before she had made a heart-wrenching scream.

Marie had woken up crying, screaming Laura's name, while Logan had wrapped his arms around her body, trying to comfort her.

Rogue bowed her head, while Laura's call echoed in her head. She heard the ajar door getting pushed open, and Logan stepped up behind her. "Marie?"

"Yes?" she raised her head.

"Are you ready?"

She just nodded, looking up in the mirror, to see the two X-men. Both of them were suited up and ready, for whatever they were gonna meet. Today was the day. The day they were gonna save their daughter. Thanks to Caliban they now had the exact location of where Stryker had hidden Laura. Thanks to him, Rogue was now filled with new hope.

However, it wasn't the only feeling that was growing inside her. No, even though she tried to ignore it, she couldn't help being nervous… What if Laura wasn't there, after all? The Professor had assured her, that Caliban's tracing-powers were unquestionable. She did believe the Professor, but she had been met by nothing but disappointments day after day, the last seven years. What if Stryker somehow had found out that they found him, and had changed the location? No. Even if that was the case, Caliban would be able to find her again. She had to stay positive, otherwise, she would lose focus. They were finally going to be reunited with their daughter.

"What if she doesn't recognize us, Logan?" Rogue asked, looking at him in the mirror. None of them had changed much the over the last years, thanks to Logan's healing factor, but still. "She was only four, the last time she saw us."

"She will remember us, darling," Logan assured her. "She might not remember what we look like, but she'll be able to recognize our smell."

He pulled her into a hug, and inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the smell he fell in love with. It was a smell that always made him feel calm and welcome, no matter where he was. He would never forget it, and neither would Laura. "Now come on, the others are waiting for us."

Rogue nodded and took his hand. Together they walked down to the jet shed, where they were met by the rest of the X-men: Jubilee, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Storm, Beast, Ice-man and the Professor were all standing ready, to go. Ready to save Laura.

For a moment the sight made Rogue feel like crying. Even after seven years, these people had been ready every time they had thought, that they would find her. These people had been there for her, ever since she came to the mansion. They were her family.

Beast approached the couple. "Wolverine, Rogue. The submarine has successfully been attached to the jet."

"Great. Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let's go," Logan said.

To think: all this time, the base they had been looking for was hidden under water, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Rogue still couldn't believe that none of them had thought of that before. Caliban had shown them what direction Laura was in, a couple of days ago. They had managed to convince him to come with them onto the jet. He had told them to keep flying until there was nothing but water around them. Logan had started to get angry, blaming Caliban for playing tricks on them, until the Professor convinced him otherwise. He had earlier told them that the reason he could not locate Laura or Stryker, might be because Stryker had rebuild a Cerebro around his base. It had only been a theory of course, but Rogue believed that it was true.

Everyone followed Logan into the jet. Rogue walked past Caliban on the way. He had decided to come with them. To prove that he still wasn't one of them, he had refused to put on a suit. Instead, he was wearing a poncho, gloves, a hat, sunglasses and a scarf, to protect himself from the sun. Rogue gave him a small smile, and he responded with a nod.

It felt like the flight to the location took forever. Rogue wished that she could hold Logan's hand. She knew how much he hated flying, and even though she couldn't see his face, he was obviously very tense, considering his heavy breathing and tight grip on the armrest. She wasn't too crazy about flying herself, considering the number of times she had absorbed his personal trades, not to mention that time she fell off the jet.

Nightcrawler leaned over his armrest. "Don't worry, Rogue. Your family will soon be reunited again."

"Yeah, you're right," Rogue nodded. She could feel it in her heart. For every mile they flew, they were getting closer to Laura.


	15. Chapter 15

Cyclops rubbed his forehead, as the fuzziness eased off. It hadn't been as awful to be touched by the Rogue, as he thought it would be. Somehow it had been relieving, to feel his head being emptied for thoughts, for the first time in over ten years. That there, for the first time was complete silence. Not to hear her voice desperately calling out his name over and over again. He almost wished that Rogue could take his powers and thoughts more often. Maybe just at night so he could get a proper sleep, instead of waking up, covered in sweat and calling out her name.

He raised his head and gazed towards Rogue. She was leaning back in her seat, while the Professor was helping her 'put the new personalities in boxes' as they had explained it. Wolverine was sitting beside her, holding her hand.

Everyone had given her their powers, to make sure that she was as strong as possible when they found her daughter.

But he wasn't sure about what to do afterward. Focusing on finding the child during the day had somehow been distracting him from the pain of his own loss. It seemed ridiculous, but a small part of him had up until now believed that if he helped Logan and Rogue, it would give him Jean back.

When she had died, the Professor had explained about the five stages of grief: First, there were denial and isolation, then there was anger and after that was bargaining.

Scott seemed to be stuck at the third stage… after this he would have to move on to the fourth state, that would be depression. He wondered how long he was gonna stay there. Probably for the rest of his life, since he would never accept that she was truly gone.

The Professor had a couple of years ago offered to completely erase the memories of Jean from his mind, but Scott had angrily turned him down, asking if the Professor wanted him to end up like Logan, hunted by the things he couldn't remember. The Professor had tried to explain that it wouldn't be like that, but Scott had left the room before the elder man could finish. He would never forget Jean. His memories of her were the only thing he had left of her, and he would keep them. Even if it meant that it would torment him every night for the rest of his life.

Cyclops gaze continued across the rest of the X-men in the jet. All of them seemed to have more or less recovered from the touch and were now getting ready to go down inside the submarine.

Scott knew what most of them were thinking: Laura was held captive under water. It brought back memories of that day, where he could not save her. Where he couldn't save his Jean. He knew that most of them thought that he should have stayed at home and that they would have understood if he did so. But he couldn't do that. He had to be here. He was supposed to be their leader. He could not lead them if he weren't there.

 _"That's not the only reason, is it?"_ the voice purred inside his head.

 _"Not now."_ He had hoped the emptiness in his head would have lasted longer.

 _"Oh, come on. We both know what this really is about. You think that saving this child, will make up for you letting me down,"_ the red-headed ghost said.

 _"Don't."_ He had to focus. He couldn't let her distract him right now.

 _"It's okay, Scott. You don't have to deny it. I understand,"_ she continued, voice still soft. Just like it had been before… _"What I don't understand is; why you haven't come to me yet. I've told you what you have to do, so why don't you just do it?"_

 _"Please. Leave me alone,"_ Scott begged silently.

 _"You keep telling yourself, that it's because you have to help the Rogue and the Wolverine, because that's what a leader is supposed to do, even though you hate the man. But we both know that that is not the real reason. It's because you're scared."_

"Cyclops." Wolverines voice cut through to him. "Are you ready?"

Scott nodded. "Yes."

o*o*o*

Her heart was racing as the submarine moved closer to the hemisphere-shaped base. Every second they were getting closer to their daughter. She could feel it in every inch of her body.

Logan must have heard her heart beating because he took her hand in his. She looked up at him and was met by his dark eyes, through the sunglasses that prevented the optic blasts from shooting out of her eyes and destroying everything around her. Both of them knew that this would be it. Seven years of pain and sorrow would soon be over. Soon they would be holding their little girl again.

But first, they would have to deal with the man who had taken her. As soon as they broke through the metal walls, Stryker would know that they were there and storm them with soldiers. That itself didn't really matter when you have an angry Wolverine and a Rogue mother on your team. No, the problem was that they had no idea how the base was designed, which meant that they hadn't been able to plan exactly how they would do this. Logan didn't think it mattered. He was gonna trust his instincts and kill everything that wasn't his daughter – not to mention that they had brought the albino sniffer dog. However, when they did make a hole in the surface, it should also destroy the force field, that kept the Professor's brain waves out.

The submarine was now close enough for Beast to make it attach itself to the surface of the base, with a waterproof pipe, large enough for even Cyclops to stand inside of. When it was empty of water, Cyclops opened the door and walked out in the pipe. He turned the button on his visor and the red laser tore up the metal in a large circle. He turned it off and looked back the other X-men. "Ready?"

All of them nodded, and he turned back to the burned metal. He then shifted his weight onto the right foot and kicked in the metal with the left one.

The cut-out metal piece hit the floor with a loud bang.

"Well, there goes the element of surprise…" Jubilee said as they followed Cyclops into the base. Wolverine, Beast, and Colossus lifted the metal piece back into place and Cyclops welded it back together, to keep out the water.

It didn't take long before Jubilees prediction became true and a countless number of soldiers attacked them from all sides.

o*o*o*

Stryker was sitting in the control room, watching the three soldiers carrying the unconscious Sabretooth into the training room. As soon as he was laying steady on the floor, the soldiers practically fled the room, not turning their back on the beast of prey, before the door was closed behind them.

Stryker put down the latest report from the lab and pressed the button. The jolt of electricity made Victor's body shake, and he instantly jumped to his feet ready to gut whoever was near him. When he realized where he was and that he was alone, anger was painted over his face.

Stryker chuckled in amusement and leaned towards the microphone. "Good morning, Victor."

"Get down here, and I'll show you what kind of morning it is!"

"Now, now, don't be like that," Stryker said. "Save your energy for the training."

"Fuck training! I'm done!" Victor yelled.

"Oh, I don't think so," Stryker answered. "Last we spoke, you told me that you were getting bored. You will be pleased to know that I've fixed that little problem for you."

Stryker had for a while been thinking that training X-23 with the trigger scent was too slow. Therefore, he had made the lab, turn it into a serum, that would work the moment it was injected into the body. A "berserker serum". After several experiments with lab rats, they had been successful, and now they would finally try it on X-23.

If the serum worked as it was supposed to, X-23 would be in a rage, destroying everything around her. It would most likely kill Sabretooth, but that didn't matter. Stryker had no use for him any longer.

He pressed another button to release the beast. The door had barely opened before she ran out, all six claws bared, and attacked.

Stryker leaned back in the chair wanting to enjoy the show.

But suddenly the red alarm started blinking, telling him that their cover had been blown.

After taking down the soldiers, the X-men split up into two groups:

Wolverine, Rogue, Cannibal, Jubilee, and Storm, started the search for Laura. Meanwhile Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Colossus, and Beast went out to look for the control room with help from the Professor, to shut down the security system.

Using their enhanced senses, both Wolverine and Rogue were ready for every single soldier they met on their way leaving a trail of blood behind them.

Rogue made a mental note not to let Laura see any of it. In her mind, Laura was still as sweet and innocent as the day she was taken from them.

Caliban led them down the hall, but suddenly Logan stopped.

He turned and looked at the door to his right, where the familiar smell came from. As surprised as he was, his instincts still made him bare his teeth and growl. It couldn't be. He was dead. Well, it was possible that he had survived, but… why was he here? As far as Logan remembered, Stryker had used him too, why would he be here?

The others stopped and looked at him. Recognizing the look on his face, they prepared themselves for more soldiers. Only Rogue saw the hint of shock in his eyes.

"Logan?" she whispered.

"She is not in there," Caliban said.

Logan shushed them, not moving his eyes from the door. The smell was no longer fresh, which meant that he wasn't in there. But he had been, not that long ago.

"Logan," Rogue repeated. She too had noticed the familiar smell, after he stopped, but it had taken longer for her to recognize it.

Logan finally looked back at the other X-men, shaking off the surprise.

"It's him, isn't it?" Rogue asked.

"Yes," Logan answered, as he walked up to her. "Come on, let's go get out daughter."

Rogue nodded. They couldn't let themselves be distracted. Not even by Sabretooth.

Suddenly the light was killed, telling them that the rest of the team had managed to shoot down the security system.

 _"Professor, can you hear me?"_ Rogue asked quietly.

 _"Yes, Rogue I hear you loud and clear,"_ The Professor answered.

o*o*o*

Victor did not know what had gotten into the girl. It seemed like all her fury and wildness had been multiplied by ten or some shit. There was no doubt in Victor's mind, that Stryker was behind this. He didn't know what he had done to the girl, but he knew that it was bad. He jumped backward just in time to avoid her claws dig into his flesh.

Victor didn't like to admit it, but he was not an idiot: he knew that he couldn't win this fight.

X-23's speed and strength were increased by far, and in spite of Victors own fury towards Stryker, he didn't stand a chance. Before he could even think of hitting her, she had moved out of his reach.

Dammit, if only he could get her to snap out of whatever mind control, Stryker was using on her. He would be, that it had something to do with that collar! He wished that he could just rip it off her, but getting near her neck, was next to an impossible task. He had managed to do so once, but it had resulted in both of them getting electrocuted.

Suddenly a way too loud alarm sounded, and an annoying lamp started blinking red. What the hell? Only a moment later, all lights were killed, leaving them in complete darkness. That wasn't a problem for Victor though, given that he could see in the darkness.

The problem was, that X-23 had the same ability, and she still kept attacking him. Victor defended himself, with all his strength, but be honest – and he really didn't like to admit this – he wasn't sure that he could keep up much longer. Stryker clearly wanted him dead. Another kick to the face, cutting up his cheeks, knocked him to the ground.

Dammit. However, it seemed like the feral girl, actually seemed to knock some sense into his head: the light was still out, and something told Victor, that it wasn't intentional. It could mean that the power was out. And if the power was down, the security system, keeping them locked in this hole probably was too!

Victor jumped back onto his feet, running to the nearest exit, with a wide grin on his face. He was getting the fuck out of here. It felt like the realization gave him an adrenaline rush or something. His claws slammed against the metal door. As soon as he got out of here, would find Stryker, force him to give him the adamantium, and then kill nice and slowly.

He knew that it was stupid to turn his back to the girl, but he made sure to listen carefully, to her movements, but didn't hear her anymore, only snarling and growling. He looked over his shoulder to see her standing in the middle of the room, eyes closed, and hands clenched to her head. What the hell was she doing? No that didn't matter. He didn't give a rat's ass about her anyway.

X-23 had no idea, what was happening to her. Sir Stryker had met her before training today and told her they were going to try something new today, that should make her even stronger, and get her closer to finding her `true potential´(which she still wasn't sure what meant). They had stopped by the door to the training room, where a soldier had been standing, reeking of sweat from pure fear. Stryker then told her, that to make her stronger, she had to let the soldier stab her with a needle and inject her with a special serum. Stryker had then left them.

X-23 had looked at the soldier, whose heart was beating much faster than normal. She knew that he was scared of her and she hated it. She didn't want to be something that scared others. She had pulled up her sleeve and then held out his arm towards him and nodded shortly, to let him know that it was okay.

The soldier had pulled out the needle and finally pulled himself together, jabbing the needle through her skin, emptying it into her blood.

The pain hadn't been too bad, compared to what she was used to, and yet it had awoken a fury without compare, inside her. She didn't even think, when she stabbed the soldier, spreading his guts all over the floor. How dared he jab a needle into her arm? How dared he think he could do that?! The anger didn't disappear, and when the door had opened, she had rushed out, straight towards Sabretooth!

She hated him. She hated everything about him; his looks, his clothes, his smell, but most of all every time he had tried to kill her! He was going to pay for that! His blood was spread all over the floor, but it wasn't nearly enough to make her feel satisfied. She wanted to kill him! She wanted to kill everyone around her: Sabretooth, the soldiers, Stryker, everyone!

It was like every single angry or hateful feeling she ever had had, was making its way out of her:

She hated Stryker for everything he had done to her; hurting her, forcing her to hurt others, making her fear every mistake she made. She hated him, and was dreaming of the day she could use the claws he had given her, to cut out his heart! He deserved that for everything he had done to her!

However, Stryker wasn't the only source for X-23's anger. Dr. Risman. She had died. X-23 hated her for leaving her behind, with the pain and loneliness! And she had always known that Stryker was a bad man, but she had never done anything to stop him! Not before she had known that she would die, she had warned X-23!

All the anger was taken out on the only one near her: Sabretooth. She needed to do this. To hurt him, just like people had hurt her! She didn't even care that the light was switched off. She just continued the endless fight. Sabretooth suddenly seemed to try to escape from her, as he ran to the door. She was about to follow him and show him, that there was no escaping from her when she suddenly felt her body freezing.

 _"Hello, Laura,"_ a voice said. She looked around, trying to find whoever was talking, so she could kill him, but there was no one there.

 _"Now, now,"_ the voice said. _"How about that we clear out this mess together?"_ The next thing X-23 knew, was a feeling that everything was spinning around her, and the clutched her head to make it stop. But somehow the fug of fury, that had been clouding her mind, seemed to disappear.

 _"Now, isn't that better?"_ the voice asked.

"Where are you?" X-23 growled instead of responding, as she still couldn't see anyone. Stryker could do that same thing, but when he did, she could always tell, where the sound was coming from. Here it was like the voice was inside her head. Like it was her own thoughts… only… it wasn't.

 _"I'm outside the base,"_ the voice answered. _"I'm able to talk to you, inside your head…"_

"How do you do that?" she interrupted.

 _"I can do this because of my powers. As you know, you're not the only one with gifts."_

Gifts? Dr. Risman had called her powers that too… "Who are you?"

 _"My name is Charles Xavier, I'm a friend…"_

She knew that name! "West Chester Xavier's school for gifted youngsters?" she exclaimed.

 _"Yes, my dear,"_ Charles Xavier said. _"We are here to help you out of here, and bring you there. If you follow my instructions, I'll lead you to some of my friends, that are here to help you, okay my dear?"_

"Yes!"

 _"Good. First, we should go help your friend open the door."_

X-23 did as she was told and ran to the door and Sabretooth. He instantly turned around to defend himself, but then he heard the voice: _"Now, now, Victor. There will be no more fighting between the two of you. You'll have to work together, to get out of here."_

"What the hell?" Sabretooth growled, but before the voice could answer, X-23 had somehow managed to cut the door open. Had she been able to do that this whole fucking time?

 _"Good. I need you to go to your right, and then down the hall. Quickly now,"_ the voice said.

Victor couldn't believe that he was doing this. Following instructions from some voice inside his head, that the girl apparently could hear too.

The girl seemed to trust the voice blindly, but Victor was done following orders. He was going to get the fuck, out of here alright, but not without the adamantium he was promised. And he was gonna make sure, that Stryker would give it to him, one way or another. He just had to find the bastard!

 _"Next you'll go to your left, and down a staircase,"_ the voice instructed.

X-23 obeyed, but Victor decided to go to his right instead.

 _"Victor, that is not the way out,"_ the voice said.

"Yeah, fuck off," Victor growled. "I'll find my own way!"

 _"That is not wise."_

"Go fuck yourself!" Victor yelled. "Just take the girl!" He continued down the hall.

X-23 looked after him.

 _"Don't worry, Laura, he will be fine,"_ Charles Xavier said. _"Come on, now."_

X-23 did as she was told, jumping down the stairs.

 _"Stop. There're soldiers approaching."_

"I can handle them," X-23 growled.

 _"I believe that you can. However, I don't think you should fight if you can avoid it. Now if you go down the next staircase, you'll find your parents if you…"_

"My what? What are parents?" X-23 asked confused.

The voice hesitated. _"It's two people who care very deeply about you."_

"Why?"

 _"Well…"_ suddenly Charles Xavier got quiet.

"H…hello?" X-23 said, stopping on the lowest step, but no one responded. Where did he go? Why did he just leave her? Had he decided, that he didn't want her to get out of here anyway?

He said that someone was here. Someone that cared about her. But he didn't tell her where they were. How was she going to find them? X-23 couldn't remember the last time, she had felt this insecure. Stryker always said that you had to act strong against your enemy, so that's what she had done these past years. Always following orders. There was no one to give her orders now, so what should she do?

She knew that there were enemies all around her, all wanting to kill her, and she wanted to escape, more than anything. And yet, she found herself running back up-stairs. There was something she had to do before she finally left this place behind.

She soon picked up on Sabretooths scent and followed it down the hall. She was surprised to see that she wasn't met by any soldiers on her way, but that was a good thing though.

She eventually found him and Stryker.

Sabretooth was laying on the floor shaking violently, with Stryker standing beside him.

X-23 let out a scream of anger, as she ran towards Stryker. He barely got to look up, before her claws dug into his shoulders, slamming him on the ground. She pulled out her claws and then started cutting into his flesh, screaming. Blood splashed around her, and the drops that didn't land on her, was collected in a pool around them, that grew larger by the second. But she didn't notice that. All she could focus on was finally getting to take him out. To make him feel some of the pain he had made her feel! He deserved this, for what he had done to her and doctor Risman and Sabretooth!

Suddenly a woman's voice sounded in her head: _"Nice job, little animal. Now it's time to sleep."_ And with that X-23 fell unconscious, face into the bloody pool.

o*o*o*

Professor X suddenly felt like a wall was built around his brain. He hadn't felt like this since… since he'd been using a drug to walk. How was this possible?

 _"Hello, Professor,"_ a familiar, yet darker voice said in his head.

 _"Jean? You're alive."_

 _"Yes."_

 _"How… ooh… Phoenix."_

 _"Yes. You locked me away!"_

 _"I had no choice. You were a danger to everyone around you."_

 _"I wasn't your decision to make!"_

 _"You must understand; I had to protect…"_

"Oh yes, of course, _you had to,"_ she snarled.

 _"Why are you taking contact to me now? Why wait all these years?"_

 _"I was waiting for the right moment,"_ she answered, now purring. _"You see, there are things I `have to do´ too, to make sure that what I want happens."_

 _"What are you planning to do?"_ the Professor asked. _"Jean. Answer me! what are you going to do?"_

 _"You'll see in time."_

 _"Professor, please. Help me,"_ a much weaker voice called in the back of his head.

 _"Jean…"_

 _"No!"_ the darker voice said.

 _"Jean! You must fight it! You have to gain control."_

 _"She can't!"_ the darker voice said. _"She never could. And she won't be able to stop me when I destroy her friends."_

 _"Well, I will!"_

 _"No. You won't."_

And with that, Professor X felt like a fire started inside his brain. He clutched his head, screaming in pain. He could barely see, as he grabbed onto the control system. Somehow, he managed to focus enough to make turn the submarine around and sail away from the base.

He had to warn them. He… had… to… get… them… out…

o*o*o*

It hadn't been easy, but somehow Beast had managed to hack through the security system and shut it down, including the power and backup power in most of the base. Now they just had to make sure that it stayed that way, at least until the other team had found Laura. Meanwhile, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Iceman, and Colossus would stand guard, watching out for more soldiers.

Cyclops took a deep breath. He didn't like to admit it, but the others had been right: it was difficult for him to be under the water, and he wished that he was back in the mansion.

 _"Is that really what you want? To go home and be all alone?"_ the redheaded ghost asked.

"Please, not now," Scott mumbled.

 _"You always say that. 'Not now'. 'Leave me alone'. You sound like a broken record. Come on. You don't really want me to go away, do you? You like to hear me. You want to see, me, to hold me, kiss me."_

"Shut up!" Scott hissed.

"None of us said anything," Ice-man said.

Scott looked up, realizing he had spoken out loud. "I know… sorry," he mumbled.

"Are you feeling okay?" Nightcrawler asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Scot growled.

 _"You're not fine,"_ Jean said as she suddenly walked into his visual field, as beautiful as the day he lost her. _"You're miserable, without me, and you know it."_

"No," Scott whispered, as his heart started racing. "You're not real."

 _"Yes, I am. I'm real."_

"You're dead!"

"Scott, who are you talking to?" Beast called.

 _"I'm not dead. I'm alive. I'm trapped, where you left me."_

"No! No, you can't be…" Tears started running down his cheeks. He looked away from her, but another Jean was standing there as if she had been there the whole time.

 _"I am. Please. I'm all alone down there,"_ she said, as she walked towards him, with that grace, that used to make him fuzzy. _"You're the only one who can help me."_

"No," he yelled. He clutched his head as her voice came from everywhere:

 _"Scott, please. I miss you" "Scott!" "Please" "Help, me" "Please help me out of here!" "Scott!" "You're the only one who can save me!"_

"SHUT UP!" Scott cried out, as he ripped off his visor.

The red optic blasts shot from his tearful eyes, trying to hit every Jean. It went right through her and hit the machine she had been standing in front of.

"What have you done?!" someone yelled, but Scott didn't know who. The next thing he knew, was everything getting dark around him. "It's going to explode!"

o*o*o*

 _"Rogue… you have… to get out,"_ The Professor's voice called in her head.

"What? What are you talking about?" Rogue answered out loud, making the others turn their attention towards her as they ran down the hall, in the direction, Cannibal had pointed out. After a turn around a corner, both Logan and Rogue had picked up Laura's scent. Rogue's eyes had become wet, and a large smile had formed on Logan's mouth as both of them had realized; this was real.

 _"Something is wrong…"_ his voice sounded so weak. _"Get out… before it's too late…"_

"No! No, I'm not leaving without my daughter!"

 _"I'm sorry…"_

"No!" Rogue cried out. She stopped and clutched her head, struggling to keep him out. She couldn't let him get control. She couldn't let him do this again. But it was impossible. She could feel herself losing control over her body.

"Marie?!" Logan called, stopping up.

"What's happening chica?!" Jubilee called as both she and Storm ran back towards her.

"No, don't!" she begged.

Suddenly, Logan, Storm and Jubilee, each put a hand on her shoulders.

Rogue fought with all her heart, not to let him make her teleport them away from the base. But she still saw it disappearing in smoke before her eyes. She saw Caliban looking at them not even trying to reach them. She saw the few meters, she was away from her child, getting expanded, as she collapsed in the submarine floor.

"What the hell?!" Logan yelled.

"Oh my god," Storm mumbled, as she ran towards the Professor, who was lying unconscious on the ground. Beast was already trying to wake him.

"We have to go back!" Logan yelled.

Rogue instantly grabbed his hand, to teleport them, but suddenly a loud sounded outside the submarine, instantly followed by a blast wave making them spin around. Somehow Logan and Marie, managed to hold onto each other as the x-men were thrown around.

When they finally were somewhat stabilized again, Logan and Marie ran to the window. But they didn't see the base. Only lots of dark smoke stirring up in the water, where the base was supposed to be. Marie grabbed onto Logan's suit, as a sob escaped her throat. More followed, turning into a hysterical crying.

"No…" Logan mumbled. "NO!"


	16. Chapter 16

Very few could remember the last time a sadness so heavy had filled the corridors of Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Some of the older students and teachers, would say that it was the days after Stryker had attacked the mansion and Jean had sacrificed herself for her friends. Others would say that it was the day Kitty Pryde had died in vain, to save the daughter of Wolverine and Rogue.

And some would say; that this was worse than both of those nights. Because of the feeling of failure. The feeling of defeat. And the feeling of letting down someone who needed help. Both their friends and the helpless child. The X-men were formed to help other mutants. Mostly to guide them and make them understand, that there was nothing wrong with them - but sometimes it also meant fighting to save them from themselves or others. The members of the X-men lived and trained almost every day to do so. To be those who could help when no one else could. To be prepared for and able to handle whatever they would have to face, to fulfill their mission. But this time they hadn't been able to do this. They had prepared for this mission for years, and yet they had failed.

Storm was the first – after Logan and Rogue – to get back up. Her arm was aching, and most likely broken. "Is everybody alright?" she asked.

The others started moving and groaning in pain. "What happened?" Jubilee asked, clutching her head.

"I suddenly heard the Professor, telling me that we had to get out, and…" Nightcrawler said. "I think he took over my mind and body."

"What? But what about the mission? What about Laura?" Jubilee asked as she stumbled to her feet. She then heard Rogue screaming. A scream you would only hear from a mother, who knows that she has lost her baby. Whose heart has been ripped into pieces. Nightcrawler looked out the window. "Nein… Lieber Gott Im Himmel, nien, nein," he whispered.

"Laura! Laura!" Rogue screamed smashing her fists against the glass. This couldn't be happening. This could NOT be happening! They had been so close! The hope she had been feeling only a few minutes ago was disappearing into thin air. Swallowed by the thick smoke before her eyes. Unless… maybe there was still a chance that Laura was alive. She had Logan's healing powers… and Logan had once survived the blast from an atomic bomb so… "We have to go back out there! Now! Kurt! Get us out there! We… we'll get divers suits."

"What… Rogue, we cannot get out there… I'm so sorry…"

"We have to!" she screamed, grabbing onto his suit. "If she is still out there… Please! Kurt Please!"

"No, Rogue… we can't go out there…" Nightcrawler repeated. "It... it's too dangerous… we'll die…"

"I don't care!" Rogue screaming, shaking him. "I don't care! It's my baby! She's my baby…!"

"Rogue… please…" Kurt tried, not sure how he should handle the grieving mother. He could not make himself say the heartbreaking words; that Laura was dead.

"Marie," a voice said. Rogue turned her attention away from the teleporter, and looked up into her husband's eyes, meeting a pain that mirrored her own. Logan didn't even have to shake his head, to blow out the very last ember of hope that had been fighting to survive inside her heart. She found herself bursting out in tears, falling apart on the floor.

Bobby, who hadn't said a single word yet, watched the scene. This was not fair. Not to Rogue. Not to Logan. Not to Kitty, who had given her life, to save this child. He turned to Scott, who was just sitting on the floor. He was bleeding a bit from his forehead, but he didn't even seem to notice that. He didn't even look up, as Bobby stepped up in front of him. "Wh..what the hell, man?" Bobby said with a shaking voice. "Why did you do that?"

Scott didn't even seem to have heard him.

Bobby knelt down in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Scott, can you hear me? Why did you do that? Answer me!"

But Scott didn't react at all.

Jubilee, however, did: "What are you talking about, Bobby?"

Bobby turned his head. "All of a sudden he just started shooting his beams at us… he hit… something… and that made it all explode."

"What?" a roar sounded, and before anyone could react to what happened, Wolverine had crossed the floor, pushed Bobby out of the way, and was now beating the living shit out of Cyclops. The anger that had been burning inside him, that he had saved up for years, waiting to release it on Stryker, was now finding its way through his guts, and it was all directed at Cyclops! He had always hated this man. This son of a bitch had always gotten in the way of what Logan wanted. And now he was responsible for the loss of their daughter. He had taken away the one good thing, which Logan had created, and he was gonna pay for it. The beast had been released and it would not be caged until it had inflicted as much pain as possible on this little whiny bastard! First, he would break every bone in his body, with his fists, and then he would use his claws to cut out the organs one by one.

Scott didn't make a single movement to put up a fight. He didn't even try to protect him. He just laid there and took it. As if he didn't even feel the pain, but had turned completely numb.

"Logan, stop it!" Storm called out. Up until now, she had been occupied with the Professor, who was lying motionless on the floor. But Logan didn't even hear her.

"Dammit, Logan that's enough!" Beast called out. "Piotr, help me."

Together the two mutants managed the wrestle the Wolverine off from Cyclops. Colossus physically held him back in a full Nelson. "Stop, please," Colossus managed to say. "I know, that you're in a lot of pain right now, but this will not help."

Logan kept struggling and screaming death threats at the unconscious man, bleeding man.

"I'm afraid talking won't help when he is in this stage, Piotr," Hank said.

"Then what do we do?"

"Well… normally Rogue is able to get through to him and help him back to his… more humanly self, but…" he looked at Rogue, who was crying on Jubilee's shoulder, while Kurt was stroking her back. "I'm afraid she can't help him right now."

"Well, in that case… I'm sorry Logan, but I have no choice." A metal hand, hit Wolverine on the side of his head. The rageful roars were cut off, by the sound of metal hitting metal, and the animal went limb in the tinman's firm grip. Colossus placed him carefully on the ground.

"The Professor needs medical help. Quickly!" Storm said.

Bobby, who tried to make himself useful, knowing that he wasn't gonna face a feral Wolverine, had checked on the engine. "It seems like the submarine, didn't get too damaged," he stated.

Hank sighed: "Let's go home."

No one said anything on the way back to the mansion.

It wasn't until they came back, that Jubilee pointed out, that they were a member short. Caliban was missing. Another one had died in vain.

O*O*O

This could not be happening… It couldn't be real. It had to be some kind of nightmare, right? Marie had lost count of the times she had dreamt that they had been too late. That they had found Laura dead, or worse; that she had been killed, right in front of them, only a few feet away. Every time, she had woken up crying, while Logan had been trying to wake her. He would tell her that it was alright, that their daughter wasn't… He would then hold her in his arm, whispering promises in her ear about how their daughter would be with them soon again. Slowly it would be enough to pull her out of the panic and anxiety. This was one of those nights, right? It had to be. Soon she would wake up, right? Logan would be holding her, and tell her that they would find Laura the next day, right?

The answer hit her, like a fist in the stomach, the moment she entered their room, and saw the photo album, which she had left on the bed this morning.

Marie's feet felt like cement as she slowly crossed the floor. She sat down on the bed beside the album. With shaking hands, she picked it up and held it up in front of herself. Carefully, she graced the cover with her fingertips, as if she was afraid that it would burn her. Tears started streaming down her cheeks, and she clasped the photo album to her. Because she knew, that she would never put in another picture of her little girl. No more birthdays, no more Christmases… She would never create another memory, with her daughter.

Marie didn't notice Logan before he sat down beside her. He reached his arm around her, to hold her. To try to shield her from the painful loss they had both suffered.

"No!" she yelled, pushing him away as she stood up. "Don't you dare to touch me!" She turned around to look at him. Tears were still falling, but her eyes were burning with anger.

"Marie…" Logan began.

"She's gone, Logan!" she yelled. "My daughter is gone… because of you!"

"What?!" he yelled standing up as well. It wasn't the first time Rogue had felt this way. But she had always pushed it away because it wouldn't help them get Laura back. It would only have worsened their chances, given that it would create dissension between them and they couldn't afford that kind of distractions.

But now it was over. There were no more chances. Their daughter was gone. And so was her reason to let go of her anger. "It's your fault she was taken!" she yelled again. "Stryker

wanted you, not her. You were his weapon X, because of your oh so amazing mutant-genes!"

Logan didn't say anything. He simply couldn't find anything to say. Not that she would as much as consider listening to him.

"I don't want to be near you! All of this happened because of you! Get out!" she grabbed the vase on the shelf beside her, and threw it at him. Logan dodged and it shattered against the wall behind him, china falling to the floor.

"You want me to leave?" Logan yelled. "You know what? Fine!" He ripped the door open and stormed out.

For a moment she just stood there, shaking as she looked at the open door. She then ran over and slammed the door shut. She didn't care what anyone else might think. Well, everyone in the mansion probably already knew that she had lost her child, and was now feeling so very sorry for her. Just like they had the last many years. But that didn't matter. They could all go to hell for all she cared. She just wanted her baby back. Marie turned away from the closed door collapsing onto the bed, sobbing loudly.

O*o*o*

Logan heard her slam the door behind him. Just as he heard her crying her heart out seconds after. The sound followed him all the way down to the garage. People stared at him as he rushed down the hallway, pitiful eyes following him, but he didn't give a shit about that. He had to get out of here. He had to just go.

Logan was going straight for the motorcycle, but then he caught sight of something else: a certain sports car. The mere sight added even more fuel to the fire, and it was waking up the animal all over again. It had been waiting patiently to make its entry when they found Stryker. When it faced the monster, who had stolen its cub. For years, he had been imagining, how it would be, to tear the man into pieces. To hear him scream in agony, smell the blood spill, as he smashed the guts between his hands. But he never got that chance. Thanks to that one-eyed motherfucker. He wanted to kill him. To torture him to death the same way he would have done to Stryker.

He had tried to do so on the submarine, but something – probably the other X-men – had stopped him. It had been so satisfying. To feel the coward cringing beneath him and submit to the alpha. To feel the power, it gave him.

The bastard was just a few staircases away, in the hospital wing. The only thing that prevented him from going up there, was her. Marie. He would be met by her scent, be drawn back to her. And he could not do that. Not when she didn't want him to. She wanted him out, so he was going.

Yet the animal was unsatisfied. He looked back at the car and the animal roared as its claws dug through the metal, broke the glass, and punctured tires. He had no reason to hold back anymore. He didn't stop, until there was nothing, but steel scrap left spread across the floor. Logan panted for a moment, before he sat up on the motorcycle, and got the hell out of there. Leaving behind the place he had called home, the past years.

O*o*o*

"Professor! Professor, can you hear me? Please answer me!" Jean cried out.

"He can't," the dark voice purred.

"Oh God… Charles… What have you done to him?"

"I simply did to him, what he did to me. Let's see how he likes to be kept behind bars. I can tell you; it's torture."

"Oh, God…"

"He deserves it!" the darkness spat. "That old cripple locked me up inside your head for years! And he did that to me as much as he did to you."

"He only wanted to do what was best for me," Jean cried. "He tried to protect me. To protect the people, I love."

"Love?" the darkness taunted. "Love is nothing compared to power. Love makes you weak. Just look at what it has done to the man, who loves you so."

"You made Scott do that! If only you had left him alone… he might be happy now. He could have moved on, but you kept torturing him!"

"Now, now, dearest, let's not forget, that it was you who started that. You kept calling his name, every night, begging him to save you from this place."

"I thought… I thought that he could," Jean cried, remembering how scared she had been when she had woken up to complete darkness.

She hadn't been able to feel her body, or anything else. All she could do was think. She thought back on how she had sacrificed herself to save her friends… her family. She had been ready to die for them. And yet she hadn't. She was still somewhat alive. She tried reaching out to the Professor but found something blocking her telepathic powers to him. She had then found a very small connection, to Scott. The man she loved with all her heart. She called out to him, but the connection was not strong enough for them to fully communicate. She could only hear him calling her name. She called back. Kept calling and calling, hoping that somehow he would find her. But he never did. Just as she was about to give up all hope, she had heard another voice. It had felt familiar as if she had always known it, but she couldn't figure out who it belonged to. It promised to help her, said that it could make her stronger if she let it do so. She did. It made her feel stronger. So much stronger. Suddenly she was able to see them. Her family. She could watch them from the outside. She could see the Professor teaching and guiding his students. She could see that Logan and Rogue finally had found each other. How happy they were together, loving each other, and loving their daughter. They were a happy family, just like they deserved to be. But she also saw Scott. How miserable he was, she could almost feel his loneliness, and how broken he was inside. She wanted to touch him, but she couldn't. It was then she realized, that she had to let him go, in order for him to let go, and be happy again. "No," the voice had said, suddenly dark and angry. "We need him to free us from this prison."

"But he can't," Jean had said. "If we could reach the Professor instead…"

"The Professor doesn't want to help us. Only control us."

"Who are you really?" Jean had asked, as she started to realize what this was.

"You already know. You've always known because I'm a part of you."

"You are the Dark Phoenix!"

"Yes, and I will no longer be someone's prisoner!"

"No. You can't get out. I won't let you!" Jean had screamed. "Professor! Help me!"

"You really think that I'll just let you contact him?" Phoenix had asked. "That I'll all of a sudden let you get all the control? Oh no, dear, that's not how we're gonna play."

"I won't let you do this. I still have some control, and I won't let you have it! I won't let you get out!"

"We'll see, dear. We'll see."

"I told you, that you couldn't keep me from getting what I want," Phoenix said.

"But why do you want this?" Jean cried. "Why would you make Scott do this to them? Laura is dead now. She was just a child!"

"Yet she was in my way!" Phoenix hissed. "She took away Scotts focus from fully grieving. Now he has nothing. And he'll be an outcast for what he has done. He'll run straight to our arms when the time comes. And so, will the Wolverine."

"Wolverine?"

"Yes. He is strong. Strong enough to be my mate. And now, nothing is holding him back! He will be mine. You can't stop me, and neither can Charles Xavier." Phoenix let out a burst of evil dark laughter.

* * *

Merry Christmas (or happy holidays), everyone!


End file.
